Australian Open Tennis 2025 by Alix Ramsay

And so it has begun.

After Day One’s torrential rain and thunderstorms (yes, that extra day in the schedule has proved a godsend so far: even more ludicrously late finishes last year and a six-hour washout this year), on Day Two the Australian Open was properly underway.

For those of us not in Australia’s time zones – which means pretty much everyone on the planet – these 15 days are bizarre. Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of London so the day session there begins at 1am here and the Aussie night session begins while the Brits are having their breakfast.

So it was that I went to bed with Frances Tiafoe and woke up with Novak Djokovic. If you, like me, are a woman of a certain age, that is a taxing schedule. Come to think of it, for a woman of any age it’s a peculiar experience.

It also seems strange to go into the Australian Open without Djokovic as the out-and-out favourite but, this year, it is Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz vying for bragging rights on that score. Sure enough, no one is discounting Djokovic’s chances but they aren’t betting their houses on him either.

No matter; the No.7 seed (which is shock enough in itself) is still one of the major stories of the fortnight. His new partnership with Andy Murray has been the talk of tennis since it was announced at the end of November.

They may have known each other for 25 years, they may have contested 10 grand slam finals (Djokovic won eight of them), 36 matches in all and they may be just a week apart in age but how well do they actually know each other? Not as well as you might think.

Before the tournament, Laura Robson spoke to the Serb for Eurosport and gave him a little quiz on his new coach. “What are the names of Andy’s children?” she asked. Cue a look of mild panic that swiftly became one of utter mortification – he had no idea. Laura gave him a clue: Andy has three girls and a boy. That was no help at all. “The eldest is called Sophia,” she prompted. Nope. That didn’t help either. She put him out of his misery: Sophia, Edie, Teddie and Lola. Ah, yes. Djokovic carefully repeated the names.

After a few more questions (and more than a few more hints), Djokovic left the studio muttering “Sophia, Edie, Teddie, Lola; Sophia, Edie, Teddie, Lola”. Andy Murray’s family life is clearly not Djokovic’s specialist subject.

On court, though, it is different. The former world No.1 is renowned for attending to every detail of his match preparation. And Murray was renowned for trying anything and everything to give himself that extra half a percentage point above the opposition. In normal life, they would be regarded as nerds; in professional sport, their nerdism makes them the best of the best. In that respect they are perfectly matched.

Over the years, we have become accustomed to seeing Murray – on court, at least – looking unshaven and sweatily dishevelled, glowering and growling at his team. And after trying his hand at commentary one summer during Wimbledon, he confessed that sitting still and watching a four-hour match was not for him. How then, we wondered, would he cope with his coaching duties when the cameras would be on him and his charge would be expecting him to be involved in every moment of every point in the match.

As it happened, Murray was immaculately turned out (only a slight covering of fashionable stubble without being untidy), alert and engaged in a quiet yet focused manner. And when Djokovic headed over to the box at the end of the court for a bit of a chat, Murray had plenty to offer.

“I’m obviously thrilled to have him in my corner,” Djokovic said, having survived a tricky opening match against Nishesh Basavareddy from California. “I must say it was a little bit of a strange experience to have him at the courtside in my box. We played for over 20 years against each other at the highest level and it’s great to have him on the same side of the net. He gave me some great advice mid-match.

“I think it’s really good we have the opportunity to have allowed coaching now so we can exchange some feedback and we can get our coaches to tell us what they see from the side of the court. It’s a completely different perspective when you’re watching from the side and he’s been doing really well. It’s been an enjoyable experience and hopefully we don’t stop here.”

But for a set and a bit, the Djoko-Muzza partnership looked like it was going to be a one-hit wonder. The 19-year-old world No.107, who only turned professional last month, was bossing the rallies from the back of the court and rattling the 10-time champion.

Basavareddy is known as the “Djokovic of the Challengers”. He idolises the Serb and clearly, as far as he can, has modelled his game on his hero. On the evidence of his first grand slam experience, he has made a pretty good job of it, too.

For the first hour or so, the American was in charge but then Djokovic started playing better while Basavareddy ran out of puff. Calling for the trainer at the start of the third set, it was unclear whether he was suffering from cramp or another issue. Judging by the treatment, it appeared the medic was trying to bolt the poor lad’s left leg back on.

The sheer effort required to compete at this level is going to take some getting used to for Basavareddy but he kept at it with no sign of giving up as Djokovic went on to win 4-6, 6-3 6-4, 6-2.

“I think he was the better player for a set and a half,” Djokovic said. “He deserves every bit of applause he got when he was exiting the court.

“He’s just a very complete player. He did very pleasantly surprise me with all of his shots and his fighting spirit towards the end.

“He didn’t get carried away by the significance of the moment. It’s not easy stepping out on the centre court for the first time, handling the nerves and all. He’s handling himself really well so I’m sure we’ll see a lot of him in the future.”

Djokovic now moves on to face the 21-year-old qualifier from Portugal, Jaime Faria, while Murray goes back to his hotel to do his homework.

We will keep a watching brief on the two old rivals but for the moment, they have a perfect record: played one, won one.

And so they have begun.