Australian Open – Day One: Live score and game-by-game updates as Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev headline a rain soaked first day in Melbourne

Melbourne boasts some of the greatest stadiums in the world and I have been so impressed by the infrastructure around its sports precinct.

The media balcony offers a fantastic view of the Melbourne Cricket Ground which is only a 500m walk away from the Rod Laver arena.

After Australia secured a huge series victory against India this summer Ben Stokes’ men will arrive here later this year for the 2025 Ashes series.

But can England win it back?

I’ve been surprised to see some of the rather bizarre and unique items on sale in the Australian Open shop this week.

The Australian Open might just be giving Augusta National a run for its money this year, after we spotted giant gnomes on sale at the Masters last year.

But Tennis Australia are also pushing the boat out when it comes to some of the weird and unique items you can pick up in the Australian Open superstores over the coming fortnight.

If you’re a pet lover, you might be pleased to know that Australian Open-themed dog collars are now on sale in the super store.

Fancy yourself as a bit of a chef? Tennis Australia have some cool pieces of merch for you too – including their AO branded oven gloves and serving spoons!

Check out our run down of some of the unique, interesting and most expensive items now on sale at Melbourne Park!

Good morning to those in the UK who are just joining us!

To recap, it’s been very wet, miserable and stormy in Melbourne today with a flash storm hitting the city this afternoon, suspending play.

But there is good news! After six hours of downpours, the rain has now stopped and the clouds are opening. I’ve just popped out onto the media balcony to grab a coffee and fans are currently flooding the concourses enjoying all the bars and cafes in Melbourne Park.

Play looks like it’s set to get underway on some of the outdoor courts, with fans piling into Court 3 to watch Omar Jasika and Hugo Gaston resume their match, with the French star having taken the first set 6-2.

Here’s a view from the balcony at the media centre…

While rain has wreaked havoc today in Melbourne we’ve still had plenty of tennis to enjoy!

• World No 6 Casper Ruud has advanced to the second round of the men’s singles following a gruelling match against Jaume Munar, with the Norwegian winning 3-2.
• French star Artur Fils claimed a 3-1 victory against Otto Virtanen from Finland.
• Mirra Andreeva claimed a 2-0 victory against Marie Bouzkova.
• Another tournament favourite, Qinwen Zheng showed her brilliance in the first set of her clash against Anca Alexia Todoni to wrestle the match off her Romanian opponent and seal a 2-0 victory.
• While Donna Vekic also sealed a 2-0 victory against France’s Diane Parry.

Kei Nishikori has delivered perhaps the moment of the day so far to come back and beat qualifier Thiago Monteiro during a five-set thriller at the John Cain Arena.

After the Brazilian took a commanding two-set lead in the match, the former world No 5 switched up a gear, saving two match points to avoid a straight sets loss in the third, before showcasing his impressive power to close out the game.

At first, it had looked like Nishikori could be heading out of the Australian Open in the first round, but the Japanese star instead has reached the second round of the tournament for the 10th time in his career with a superb 4-6 6-7 7-5 6-2 6-3 victory.

It comes after the former world No 5 returned to the tennis court last season to contest at his first two Grand Slams since the 2021 season after suffering a shoulder injury at Wimbledon.

Nishikori will come up against another tough opponent next, though, with the Japanese star set to play the winner of Tommy Paul and Christopher O’Connell’s huge matchup.

Here’s the moment he clinched a berth in the second round of the tournament…

A lot of fans around Melbourne Park today have told me that they were a little perplexed and a little underwhelmed by the scheduling for today’s play.

There has been a lack of big names on the scheduling at Melbourne Park today.

In fact, the first round is set to spread over the course of the next three days, with home favourite Alex de Minaur getting his tournament underway on Tuesday.

I’m hearing that play is set to be suspended on the outdoor courts until 6pm (AEDT)/ 7am (GMT).

But looking out the window here at the media centre, it’s looking very unlikely that we’ll have any more play on the outdoor courts this afternoon as the rain continues to fall around Melbourne Park.

Right! Enough about the weather! There’s still plenty of action to come with the roof now shut on the John Cain Arena, Margaret Court Arena and the Rod Laver Arena.

Right now a huge tussle between two big hitters is taking place on Rod Laver, with Casper Ruud squaring off against Jaume Munar.

Ruud had taken a 2-1 lead in the match with Munar pulling back the fourth set 6-2 to pull back level with the Norwegian at 2-2.

After this match Australian Open defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will follow, as she takes on former Grand Slam winner Sloane Stephens in a hugely exciting opening round matchup.

We’re also expecting tonight to be a late one too, with Alexander Zverev set to take on Lucas Pouille after Sabalenka and Stephens have squared off on Rod Laver

Over on the John Cain Aren, Paula Badosa goes up against Xinyu Wang before Ugo Humbert gets his Australian Open campaign off to a start, with the No 14 seed taking on Matteo Gigante.

And on the Margaret Court Arena, Aussie star Daria Saville gets her tournament underway against Anna Blinkova.

All eyes will then turn to tomorrow, with some big names in action including Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff and Nick Kyrgios.

The flash storm has caused some havoc with today’s schedulling with several matches, including British star Sonay Kartal’s first-round clash, being cancelled.

But that isn’t dampening the spirits of fans around the tennis precinct who have all been lapping up the atmosphere around Melbourne Park sporting plastic rain macs!

What’s truly bizarre about the weather is that over the past week in Melbourne we’ve had some balmy conditions, with temperatures topping 31ºc yesterday in the CBD.

Here’s some snaps from around the ground today!

Fans have been running and ducking for cover around Melbourne Park all afternoon as it seems this torrential weather is showing no sign of slowing down.

Play on the outdoor courts has also been suspended until after 5pm but the weather is unfortunately showing no signs of relenting this afternoon with rain pouring down on the show courts outside.

In fact, I understand that thousands of people around Melbourne have been left without power after the unexpected storm caused flash flooding around the city.

Cars across Victoria have been caught up in floods and some train services have now been cancelled due to the insane conditions.

Approximately 25mm of rain have fallen in the last four hours after the heavy storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology, Vicotria has issued a severe weather warning to parts of the city with thunderstorms now sweeping their way through Melbourne, heading east towards the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges.

Welcome to the opening day of the 2025 Australian Open!

It’s been a very wet and stormy day here in Australia. We’ve seen all four seasons today at Melbourne Park and the rain has just not stopped!

Thunder and lightning have rolled in too and the city skyline was engulfed in dark grey clouds earlier this afternoon.

We’ve been blessed with balmy temperatures this week with it getting up to 31ºc yesterday in the city centre.

But with 25mm of rain falling over the last four hours, not much tennis is going on on the outdoor courts right now, and having just been soaked on my journey over to the media centre, it looks like not much tennis is going to be played this week!

But that’s not stopping the party! Fans around Melbourne Park are still revelling in the atmosphere and boy have we got a lot of tennis coming up this afternoon.

Stay tuned as we’ll be bringing you all the latest news, updates and quirky stories from around Melbourne Park.