The tables have turned on RLA as Jessica Bouzas Maneiro breaks Aryna Sabalenka then holds serve to take a 4-1 lead in the second set. The No 1 seed is still making too many errors but that is due in part to Bouzas Maneiro’s consistency and confidence from the baseline.

Olga Danilović beats Liudmila Samsonova (25) 6-1 6-2

After both players had their issues with holding serve in the opening set, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro start the second set doing just that. The reigning champion serves at 6-3, 1-2.

Olga Danilović has one foot in the third round as the Serbian leads Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 5-2. The No 25 seed will serve to stay in the match.

It’s all heating up on JCA as Laura Siegemund stuns Qinwen Zheng in a tie-breaker. Too many errors proved costly for the No 5 seed as the German veteran wins the first set 7-6(3).

Aryna Sabalenka is not having it all her own way but holds serve to win the first set against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3 in 44 minutes. The Belarusian edged the set with 16-9 winners but both players will want to step up their service games from here.

Jessica Pegula claims the first set from Elise Mertens 6-4 on MCA, but there is a tighter contest over on JCA where Qinwen Zheng and Laura Siegemund are heading to a tie-breaker.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has put up a brave fight so far on RLA but Aryna Sabalenka is firing now. The Spaniard is serving to stay in the set after the world No 1 pushes out to a 5-2 lead. But can Bouzas Maneiro hold serve for the first time today?

A mini-upset is brewing on Kia Arena as Olga Danilović wins the first set against Liudmila Samsonova 6-1 in under half an hour. The No 25 seed has then taken an early 2-1 lead in the second set after immediately breaking the Serbian.

No 14 women’s seed Mirra Andreeva has taken the first set from Moyuka Uchijima 6-4. The teenager’s serve is up and running with five aces to none in the first set while Andreeva is also on top 16-6 for winners.

Neither player can hold serve in a somewhat surprisingly tense encounter on RLA. Bouzas Maneiro again takes Sabalenka to deuce but this time takes to game quickly off an error from the world No 1 then a forehand winner by the Spaniard. Much of this match is being decided by whether or not Sabalenka lands her shots though. Sabalenka leads the first set 3-2 with Bouzas Maneiro to serve.

Over on 1573 Arena, and Reilly Opelka has taken only 25 minutes to claim the first set from Tomas Machac 6-3. The American sent down nine aces and hit a top speed of 219km/h to win 18/20 first serves in a blistering start.

Aryna Sabalenka breaks Jessica Bouzas Maneiro for a second time in as many service games, this time to 15, as the 22-year-old Spaniard’s serve already looms as the main issue against the Belarusian powerhouse.

Aryna Sabalenka breaks Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to 30 at the first attempt but the Spaniard bounces back immediately. Bouzas Maneiro pulls away to a 0-30 lead following a pair of unforced errors from Sabalenka, then takes the game to deuce and four break-back points – the third from a huge confidence booster with a sublime cross-court forehand winner. The world No 54 brings out a backhand winner to finally finish off the game and put the first set back on serve.

Jessica Pegula is up against Elise Mertens on Margaret Court Arena with the first few games quickly going to serve. Mertens leads the No 7 seed 2-1.

Aryna Sabalenka with a typically dominant start as the reigning women’s single champion holds serve to 15 against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro are finishing their warm-up on RLA with the roof now open in a sign of confidence that the rain has passed. The world No 1 breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sloane Stephens. Tennis reporter Tumaini Carayol could hardly have been more impressed.

Over the next fortnight, Sabalenka will attempt to become the first woman in 26 years – since Martina Hingis – to win three consecutive Australian Open singles titles. She opened up her title defence in Melbourne with an imperious performance, dismantling the former US Open champion Stephens.

Teenage sensation and No 14 seed Mirra Andreeva is up against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima on court 3. Uchijima races through the first game to love.

Players are now warming up on the outside courts with the action to get under way shortly. Qinwen Zheng and Laura Siegemund on John Cain Arena has been the only match able start closer to the scheduled 11am, with China’s No 5 seed holding a 2-1 lead in the first set as both players hold serve early.

Now for the weather. Grey skies across southern Victoria have already left some drizzle on Melbourne Park and postponed play starting on the outside courts until 11.30am.

But the worst already seems to have passed to leave us with a muggy, overcast day but hopefully no further interruptions.

We hope you don’t venture too far from the Guardian’s inimitable Australian Open blog but will understand if you want to pop out for a sneak peek at AO Animated.

Our reporter on the ground at Melbourne Park, Jack Snape, describes AO Animated as “near-live, commentated coverage of the Australian Open, free to anyone across the world via YouTube, enhanced via a stream of comments from a like-minded online community”.

It was a special night for tennis’s glamour couple as Australia’s Alex De Minaur brushed aside Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in 142 minutes all while having one eye on the score at the neighbouring Kia Arena. De Minaur’s fiancé, Katie Boulter, had to work harder to progress to the second round but eventually sealed her place in Australian Open history for Great Britain.

You want to be focusing on your own match, then all of a sudden you see the results of Katie’s match,” De Minaur said. “You try not to pay too much attention and focus on yourself, but the sheer fact that it’s always coming around, it makes it difficult.

Preamble