Novak Djokovic survived a scare in his quest for tennis history before joining Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner in the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. But home favourite Nick Kyrgios will not join them as the combustible Australian failed to clear the first hurdle, swearing and in pain. In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff powered through with minimum fuss as they seek to dethrone two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. On a blockbuster second day in Melbourne, Djokovic lost the first set to 107th-ranked American Nishesh Basavareddy in the prime-time evening match on Rod Laver Arena.

But the Serbian great, hoping to roll back the years and win an 11th Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam singles title, recovered to pull through 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Djokovic was animated at the end and struggled to raise a smile.

Italian world number one Sinner was playing under a cloud after twice testing positive for traces of a steroid in March.

He denies wrongdoing and was cleared by tennis authorities, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed and is seeking to ban him for up to two years.

Sinner was warmly welcomed on Rod Laver Arena before defeating Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.

“I was curious to see how it was. You never know what’s happening,” he said about the reception.

“I was happy about the crowd,” said Sinner, who has not tasted defeat since losing to Alcaraz in the Beijing final in October.

Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion but never a winner in Melbourne, had a couple of hairy moments before seeing off the challenge of Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko, 6-1, 7-5, 6-1.

“This is a tournament I really want to win one day, hopefully this year,” said the 21-year-old Spaniard.

There was disappointment however for home fans as the colourful but temperamental Kyrgios, only recently back from 18 months out with injury, lost 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.

Kyrgios spoke to physios multiple times in the second set after wincing in pain while serving and fired expletives at his coaching box.

Earlier, the 11th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first major casualty when Alex Michelsen blasted past him 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

The 26-year-old Greek, who played Djokovic in the 2023 final at Melbourne Park, never looked comfortable against the 42nd-ranked American.

“It just sucks in a way that I’ll be hanging around for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in,” said Tsitsipas.

Two-time US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe vomited twice on court before pulling through in five sets against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech.

Gauff sends warning

The women’s draw provided few upsets on day two.

Red-hot world number three Gauff laid down a marker as she swept aside former Melbourne champion and fellow American Sofia Kenin.

Gauff is unbeaten this year after leading the US to United Cup glory and eased past the 2020 Australian Open winner 6-3, 6-3 in 80 minutes.

“I knew it was going to be difficult, but you know, I’m happy with how I played,” said Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion.

Women’s world number two Swiatek defeated Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-4 to get her tournament up and running.

The Pole has won five Grand Slams but her best performance at Melbourne Park is the semi-finals in 2022.

“For sure it wasn’t an easy first round, so I’m happy that I’m through,” said Swiatek.

Victoria Azarenka, the 2012 and 2013 champion, was a notable early loser as the Belarusian went down 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) to Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.

US Open finalist Jessica Pegula, the seventh-seeded American, blew away home player Maya Joint 6-3, 6-0.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka, a two-time Australian Open champion, later faces 67th-ranked Caroline Garcia in a repeat of last year’s first-round clash that the French player won.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz has been knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in straight sets by 33rd-ranked Tomas Machac, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 on Thursday. The Czech will face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after a surprisingly straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over an injured Daniil Medvedev earlier. Machac edged out Alcaraz in a closely fought first-set tiebreak after neither player was able to break their opponent’s serve.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who had said before the match that he was wary of Machac’s speed, appeared to be struggling at the beginning of the second set.

The Spaniard looked like he might make a comeback when he broke in the sixth game to level.

However, Machac powered back and broke Alcaraz again in the 11th game to claim the shock victory and progress to the semi-finals.

Alcaraz said he was “a little bit disappointed about today’s loss”.

“I really wanted to go further, to play against Jannik, but that’s tennis I guess. I just have to accept it,” he said post-match.

“I felt like I was playing against top five — his level was so high,” Alcaraz said of Machac.

“It was unbelievable, it was crazy for me.”

Twenty-three-year-old Machac said he had “no other options” when playing against Alzaraz.

“I have to play this well to beat him,” he said after the match.

Sinner, who Alcaraz beat in the China Open final last week, looked strong from the beginning of his match against Medvedev.

In the first set, which lasted only 25 minutes, the Italian broke Medvedev in the second and sixth games to murmurs of surprise from the crowd.

The Russian kept holding his shoulder, which he had said the day before had “some niggles”, and received medical attention several times during the match.

“He didn’t play at his best,” said Sinner, acknowledging the injury.

“But this can happen and I took advantage of that today. I felt like I was playing some good tennis, especially the first set, trying to keep going in the second set. It was a good performance from my side.”

This was the fifth time Medvedev and Sinner have met in the latter stages of tournaments this year.

Sinner beat Medvedev in the semi-finals in Miami, the quarter-finals of the US Open, and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian’s hopes in the last eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.

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Naomi Osaka swept to her first victory at the French Open in three years on Sunday, setting up a potential showdown with Iga Swiatek, as Carlos Alcaraz maintained his record of never losing in the first round of a Grand Slam. Osaka, a four-time major winner who has yet to get past the third round in Paris, needed three sets to defeat Italy’s 48th-ranked Lucia Bronzetti on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. The 26-year-old fired 31 winners, including six aces, and 45 unforced errors in a match where she gave up a 4-0 lead in the decider before finding herself 5-4 down.

However, she rallied strongly to register her first win at a Grand Slam since the 2022 Australian Open.

“It feels really nice to be back and I’m just really grateful to be here in front of everybody,” said Osaka.

“I think there were moments when I played really well.”

The Japanese star, a former world number one now at 134 in the rankings, has endured a bittersweet relationship with the French capital.

In 2021, she was fined for opting out of mandatory media commitments before withdrawing from the tournament in order to protect her mental health.

A year later, she fell in the first round before leaving the sport in September 2022 for 16 months to give birth to her daughter.

Top seed and defending champion Swiatek, chasing a fourth French Open, will face Osaka if the Pole gets past qualifier Leolia Jeanjean on Monday.

World number three and reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz eased to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 win over America’s J.J. Wolf, the 107th-ranked player who entered the main draw as a ‘lucky loser’ from qualifying.

Alcaraz, 21, who made the semi-finals in 2023 where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, took his first-round record at the majors to 13-0.

Alcaraz showed no sign of suffering from the right arm injury which sidelined him from the Rome Open as he coasted to victory on the back of 27 winners and nine breaks of serve.

‘Don’t need many matches’

“I don’t need too many matches to be at my best,” said Alcaraz.

“I have practised with a lot of top players in Paris this week and the forearm is feeling better and better.”

Defending champion Novak Djokovic begins his bid for a fourth French Open title and 25th major on Tuesday.

“Low expectations and high hopes,” said the Serb on Sunday after arriving in Paris without a title in the season for the first time since 2018.

Later Sunday, Stan Wawrinka, the 39-year-old 2015 champion, and 2016 runner-up Andy Murray meet for the 23rd time, a rivalry which has included two semi-final clashes in Paris.

Murray is playing his final season on tour but whether or not 14-time champion Rafael Nadal joins him in retirement later this year remains to be seen.

Nadal, who will be 38 on June 3, revealed Saturday that he hasn’t committed himself to retiring and wanted to “100% keep the door open”.

He missed the tournament in 2023 with injury while his 2024 appearance may be brief after he was drawn to face fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev on Monday.

“It’s a big, big chance that this is going to be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you it’s 100% my last Roland Garros, sorry, but I will not,” Nadal said.

The Spanish legend has racked up 112 wins in 115 matches at the tournament since his title-winning 2005 debut when he was just 19.

He has 22 Grand Slam titles — second only to Djokovic’s 24 on the all-time men’s list — but his career has been plagued by injuries.

‘Uncomfortable position’

Nadal has played just four tournaments since January last year after suffering a hip injury and then a muscle tear.

As a result, his ranking has slumped to 275 in the world and he comes into the French Open unseeded.

French Open organisers were even ready to stage a tribute ceremony for Nadal before he revealed that he could play on.

“We were ready to press the button on it,” admitted tournament director Amelie Mauresmo.

“But it’s Rafa who manages his timing, we follow what he wants. We wouldn’t want to put him in an uncomfortable position.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, two-time quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed, defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel in four sets.

Eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz needed five sets to see off Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki while Grigor Dimitrov, the 10th seed, defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets.

Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 champion, swept past Jaqueline Cristian while former Australian Open winner and 2020 Roland Garros runner-up Sofia Kenin came back from a set down to defeat Laura Siegemund of Germany.