Five thoughts, observations, and comments on Day 1 of the Australian Open:

  1. When Novak Djokovic wins, he tends to win big. The world No. 1 won three majors during an absurdly good 2015 season, and began his new campaign with a title in Doha, punctuated with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Rafael Nadal. That scoreline might make his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Hyeon Chung appear ordinary, but as Boris Becker told Pam Shriver on ESPN2, “you don’t want to play your best match” in the first round. Djokovic and his coach are thinking about the big picture, and Monday’s drama-free victory will make his fortnight a little bit easier. As will Ivo Karlovic’s first-round exit. The No. 22 seed, one of only four players to beat Djokovic in 2015, retired while trailing Federico Delbonis by two sets. Karlovic and Djokovic could have met in the fourth round.
  1. If you have DirecTV, you need to click over to channel 701, the Australian Open Mix Channel. It shows up to six courts, with the world feed used as commentary. It’s also a treat when matches aren’t going on. Leif Shiras and Allen Bestwick provide insight on Oz, and press conferences are often shown. I caught Lleyton Hewitt’s final pre-tournament presser, in full, along with Maria Sharapova’s chat during idle time. The Mix Channel is in sharp contrast to ESPN2, which failed to show the hot-button press conference regarding a tennis match-fixing report. (Cord cutters, you may be able to catch these feeds on ESPN3, so check that out.)
  1. Let’s not think about what’s next for Serena Williams for a moment. Think about this: She hadn’t played a competitive match since September. Her knee was, by all accounts, still a nagging issue. And she drew Camila Giorgi, one of the most difficult unseeded opponents at No. 36. What did Serena do? She won in straight sets. Rarely is a first-round win by a top seed notable, but I think we should make an exception in this case.
  1. Best of Three: 1) Kudos to ESPN2 for this gem: Austin Krajicek and Kei Nishikori, who will face each other in the second round, were once roommates at Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy in Bradenton, Florida. 2) Svetlana Kuznetsova, who flattened Daniela Hantuchova (6-0, 6-2) and is coming off a title in Sydney, looks extremely fit; a Serena-Svetlana quarterfinal could be dynamite. 3) Grigor Dimitrov is wearing a sleeveless shirt. He’s just missing the pirata pants.
  1. Love the Twitter emojis for big sporting events. You may have seen them for the NFL playoffs and have likely run into #AusOpen during your Twitter travels. But did you know there are four more Aussie Open-centric icons?

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