Australian Open Day 2: Kyrgios and Tsitsipas out, Djokovic wins in four

Stefanos Tsitsipas faced a difficult draw at the Australian Open–one that proved to be too difficult for him on Monday afternoon. Tsitsipas suffered a first-round exit at the season’s first major, falling to Alex Michelsen 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 after two hours and 43 minutes.

Michelsen called it one of the best matches of his career.

“Probably the only other time I have played that well was against (Alex) De Minaur in [Los Cabos] last year,” the 20-year-old American reflected. “I went in there and I never hit the ball cleaner in my whole life. I don’t think I played outrageously well (today) like I did against De Minaur, but I did play very well.

“I had a set game plan and I knew what I wanted to do. The plan was specific to Stef, but when you play that well, playing that aggressively, you think to yourself that I might try this more often. I feel if I’m playing like that, it would definitely work against a lot of the guys.”

Nick Kyrgios joined Tsitsipas on the fast track out of Melbourne Park with a 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(2) loss to former TCU standout Jake Fearnley. Kyrgios, a question mark to even play this Grand Slam due to recurring physical problems, struck eight double-faults and won only 44 percent of his second-serve points while bowing out in two hours and 19 minutes.

The 29-year-old Aussie said afterward that it was “realistically” his last-ever singles match at this tournament.

Novak Djokovic looks like he has plenty of matches left in his tank in Melbourne. Playing his first match with coach Andy Murray in the corner, Djokovic got off to a slow start against Nishesh Basavareddy on Monday night but recovered to prevail 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 59 minutes.

The 37-year-old Serb got broken at 3-3 in the opening set but did not drop serve the entire rest of the way.

“It’s all business now for us,” the 10-time Aussie Open champion said of his partnership with Murray. “I’m thrilled to have him in my corner. It was a little bit of a strange experience to have him courtside in my box…. We played against each other for over 20 years, and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net.

“He gave me some great advice mid-match. It’s really good we have the opportunity to exchange some feedback and get our coaches to tell us what they see. It’s been a great experience. Hopefully we don’t stop here.”