Even despite a lengthy rain break that reduced the opening day’s schedule at Melbourne Park, it didn’t take long before one of the big names was in trouble during opening-round play on Sunday.

No.6 seed Casper Ruud looked like he might be on his way back to Europe when he was locked at two sets apiece with Spain’s Jaume Munar before steadying the ship just in time to come through 6-1 in the fifth during the Rod Laver Arena day session.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist avoided an early exit by “making more balls” as the match wore on, and admitted he suffered a fair amount of stress en route.

“It’s quite normal to be nervous at the beginning of a tournament,” the Norwegian admitted.

“I’ve never played my opening match on a Sunday, and it feels like if I would have lost today, I feel like I would have been on the way home before the tournament even started. Really didn’t want to lose.

“I guess maybe that helped me pull through the fifth set.”

Ruud’s was one of 32 matches originally on the schedule – 16 in each singles draw – an order of play that was reduced because of a lengthy spell of rain shortly after play began at 11am local time.

That unwelcome weather didn’t stop a number of fan favourites moving into the second round though, the most notable being two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.

The world No.1 made it 15 wins in a row at Melbourne Park by easing past 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2 in 71 minutes.

The player she beat in last year’s final, China’s Zheng Qinwen, joined her in the second round after beating Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 7-6(3) 6-1.

Seeded quartet Paula Badosa, Mirra Andreeva, Donna Vekic and Leylah Fernandez also negotiated first-round matches. No.29 seed and last year’s quarterfinalist Linda Noskova crashed out however, losing in three sets to recent Auckland champion Clara Tauson from Denmark.

While there were wins for a group of six seeds in the men’s first round, the bigger stories arguably involved players further down the rankings.

Second seed Alexander Zverev was the highest-ranked player in the men’s draw to go through – in straight sets against former top-10 player Lucas Pouille – while Ruud, Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils, Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Machac also scored victories.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori, American Reilly Opelka and Lebanon’s Hady Habib caught the imagination with emotional successes elsewhere in the draw.

Former US Open finalist Nishikori saved two match points on his way back from two sets down to beat Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro for his first win at Melbourne Park since 2019.

Opelka made a strong start to the season by beating Novak Djokovic during a run to the Brisbane final a few days ago, and continued that form to beat Belgian Gauthier Onclin. It is the big American’s first Grand Slam win since 2022 because of lengthy injury problems.

And Habib made history for his country by becoming the first Lebanese player to win a Grand Slam match when he got past China’s Yunchaokete Bu in straight sets on Court 13.