Djokovic cheered on Australia comeback, Auger-Aliassime and Rune among first round exits

Djokovic
–
who
saw
a
three-year
visa
ban
lifted
in
November
–
was
playing
with
Vasek
Pospisil
in
the
doubles,
and
the
duo
lost
4-6
6-3
10-5
to
Tomislav
Brkic
and
Gonzalo
Escobar
on
Monday
(January
2),
but
the
fans
in
attendance
chanted
“Novak”
as
they
welcomed
him
back
following
his
absence
from
last
year’s
Australian
Open.

The
Serbian
will
face
Constant
Lestienne
in
the
first
round
of
the
men’s
singles,
but
second
seed
Felix
Auger-Aliassime
is
already
out
after
he
lost
to
Alexei
Popyrin.

Auger-Aliassime
struggled
throughout
as
his
Australian
opponent,
ranked
120th
in
the
world,
put
in
a
crowd-pleasing
performance
to
go
through
6-4
7-6
(7-5).

Another
young
star,
Holger
Rune,
is
also
out
after
the
fifth
seed
was
beaten
2-6
6-4
6-4
by
Yoshihito
Nishioka.

Quentin
Halys
set
up
a
potential
second-round
clash
with
Djokovic
after
beating
Jordan
Thompson
in
straight
sets,
while
Miomir
Kecmanovic,
Jack
Draper,
Roman
Safiullin
and
Thanasi
Kokkinakis
all
progressed.

It
was
also
a
bad
day
for
seeds
at
the
Maharashtra
Open
in
Pune,
with
Alex
Molcan
beaten
6-2
6-4
by
Laslo
Djere
and
Jaume
Munar
losing
6-4
7-5
to
Tallon
Griekspoor.

Dutchman
Griekspoor
will
now
play
Marco
Cecchinato
after
the
Italian
overcame
Nikoloz
Basilashvili,
and
Roberto
Carballes
Baena
set
up
a
last-16
clash
against
top
seed
Marin
Cilic
by
defeating
fellow
Spaniard
Bernabe
Zapata
Miralles.

Filip
Krajinovic
did
make
it
through
a
tussle
with
home
favourite
Sumit
Nagal
to
set
up
a
meeting
with
Michael
Mmoh,
while
Benjamin
Bonzi
will
face
third
seed
Emil
Ruusuvuori
after
beating
Tseng
Chun-hsin.