The Overnight: Djokovic’s crisp return; how Petko beat Petra; more Oz

If the Grand Slams ever give in and reduce men’s matches from best-of-five sets to best-of-three, one group of people will likely jump—and chant, and stomp—for joy: the Aussie Fanatics. When their countrymen are playing, those notorious, semi-professional noisemakers from Down Under must be as loud as they can be, for as long as it takes. On Tuesday, it took their man, Jordan Thompson, three hours and 42 minutes to lose to Argentina's Nicolas Kicker on Court 8. The Fanatics roared, “Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey JORDAN THOMPSON!”—or some similarly clever variant thereof—between virtually every one of the match’s 305 points. Thompson came back from two sets down, and pushed Kicker all the way. But in the end the Aussie walked off, and the Aussie Fanatics sheepishly dispersed, in awkward silence, while the Argentine celebrated—loudly and more than a little vengefully—at mid-court.

For the most part, it was quieter elsewhere around Melbourne Park on Tuesday, as the top seeds went about their business, and a couple of stars made impressively one-sided returns.

Novak Opens Off Broadway

Nothing says “Welcome Back!” to a six-time champion like sending him to Margaret Court Arena, the second-largest show court at the Australian Open, for his opening match. That’s where Novak Djokovic was exiled to on Tuesday, while 20-year-old Alexander Zverev, who has played the tournament twice, took center stage in Rod Laver Arena. But Djokovic didn’t seem to mind opening Off-Broadway, as he rolled unimpeded past Donald Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, in what the Serb happily termed a “very, very, solid performance.”

Djokovic also unveiled a new service motion, abbreviated to protect his injured right elbow. More than that, he signaled a new determination to throw in, Nick Kyrgios-style, second serves that resembled first serves. Djokovic was pleased with how the second serves went, but not with his first-serve percentage, which hovered in the mid-50s.

From the start, Djokovic was willing to go after his crosscourt forehand in a way that he often isn’t. It worked. Whether that’s something he’ll consciously look to continue, or whether it was just the product of feeling loose in a match that wasn’t close, is something we’ll learn more about when he faces Gael Monfils on Thursday. Either way, it was good to have Djokovic—buttoned up in Lacoste now—and his crisp presence back on court.

Woman of Destiny?

Whatever she may end up doing on the court, Destanee Aiava, a 17-year-old Melbourne native, is already a pioneer in the press room. On Tuesday she introduced the tennis media to an oxymoronic catch-phrase of the Millennial Age: “Yeah, no.”

“Yeah, no, I just got really anxious at 5-2...”

“Yeah, no, everything’s fine.”

“Yeah, no, I’ve tried to, like, work on every shot.”

“Yeah, no, it was very tough.”

That’s how Aiava started four of her answers after her 7-6 (5), 6-1 loss to No. 1 Simona Halep. If a defeat can be promising, this one qualified. Like an even-younger Naomi Osaka, Aiava hit a big ball at Halep; when she connected, there was nothing the Romanian could do about it. Also like Osaka, though, Aiava stopped connecting just long enough to let Halep escape the first set in a tiebreaker.

Aiava’s backhand is the shot to watch; when she has time, she drives forward with her whole body, and all of the parts work together beautifully. Her forehand is a little flicky and erratic, but Aiava has the explosive power to put a jolt in any arena. So much so that Halep put her name and “Serena” in the same sentence.

Aiava reacted to the compliment in characteristic fashion:

“Yeah, no,” she said, “the fact that she referenced me to Serena gives me a lot of confidence in myself.”

Match of the Day: Andrea Petkovic d. Petra Kvitova 6-3, 4-6, 10-8

A three-hour war of attrition and an old-fashioned contrast in styles. Kvitova likes to hit with pace—she can’t help it, really—while Petkovic likes to redirect pace. The German has done it surprisingly well against the Czech in the past; Kvitova only led their head to head 5-4 coming into this one.

Once Petkovic had established a lead on Tuesday, it became a matter of whether she could cross the finish line. She led in the second set, before Kvitova won the last three games to steal it. Petkovic led again, 4-1, in the third set, and had a point to go up 5-1. But again, Kvitova, who was struggling physically—she had trouble standing up at certain points—hung on. Rather than cross the finish line herself, Petkovic waited for Kvitova to finally collapse. Serving at 9-10, Kvitova double faulted at match point. Naturally, these two friendly and popular players ended with a hug and a smile.

“It was a great match,” said Kvitova. “Played pretty long, as well, I feel it....I felt support during the match. It makes me little bit cry when I left the court.”

High Hopes, Quick Ends

Every week is a new opportunity–for good or bad—on the pro tours, and nothing lasts for very long. Just ask Roberto Bautista Agut and Alex de Minaur.

The Spaniard and the Aussie were two of the most-talked-about players in the weeks leading up to the Australian Open. Bautista Agut beat Juan Martin del Potro for the title in Auckland, and he looked to have a manageable path to the second week in Melbourne—RBA, it seemed, had dark horse written all over him. The 208th-ranked De Minaur, meanwhile, rode a wave of home-country hysteria to the final in Sydney and the semis in Brisbane.

Now, after one round, they’re both gone. Bautista Agut lost to Fernando Verdasco in straight sets, while De Minaur went out in four to Berdych—the last two were a brisk and brutal 6-0, 6-1.

“I left it all out there,” De Minaur said. “But it wasn’t enough.”

Those might not be words you want to have carved into your headstone, but give him points for honesty.

Conversation of the Day

Surface speed is a common, and somewhat mystifying, topic at every hard-court major. Even at the same event, some arenas can faster than others, and no player’s opinion of the pace is exactly the same as anyone else’s. So credit Madison Keys with some real talk on the subject—sometimes, she says, court speed depends on how lazy, or not lazy, a player is feeling while they’re standing on it.

Q. Which courts have you been able to practice on here? Do you have any sense as to how different each one is playing court speed-wise? Everybody is saying certain courts are faster than other courts.

MADISON KEYS: Yeah, I saw a stat the other day that said Rod Laver was the fastest. I personally didn't think that's how it was playing. I've played on a couple of the outside courts, some of the show courts. I think they're all a little bit different.

Like I think show court 2 is playing faster than Rod Laver. The other day, that stat didn't match up. Who knows, maybe I'm crazy (smiling).

Q. The players all have different opinions on the speed of different courts. Clearly some of them aren't very good at gauging how fast the court is. Do you feel like you are?

MADISON KEYS: I mean, honestly, it could be that I just wasn't moving my feet at all one day. I was like, Wow, this is really fast.