Feisty three-time Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev was forced to work hard in grinding past Dutchman Jesper de Jong on Monday as he launched his bid for an elusive second Grand Slam crown.
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The colourful Russian stumbled home 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) on a hot Margaret Court Arena and will meet French qualifier Quentin Halys in round two.
But it was a less-than-convincing performance from the 29-year-old, who was twice broken serving for the match.
At least he was on his best behaviour, unlike last year when Medvedev was fined for mangling his racquet and a net camera in an epic temper tantrum at the same stage.
"Today was not easy. I mean, first match, Grand Slam," he said.
"Happy to win in straight sets, even if some of them were kind of up and down, but the conditions felt slow, so we were both breaking each other's serve a lot.
"The most important is to win. I'm playing better (than last year) and looking forward to this Australian Open."
The former world No 1, now ranked 12, warmed up for another crack at the Melbourne Park title by winning the Brisbane International.
Medvedev fired a forehand winner down the line to break the 79th-ranked De Jong immediately and looked set to steam through the first set.
But his opponent had other ideas, converting his second break point at 1-2 to haul himself back into contention.
Neither player could hold serve, with three more service breaks before Medvedev finally held to take the set after 58 minutes.
He woke up to power through the next set in 39 minutes, converting five of six break points and, with De Jong wilting, served for the match at 5-4 in the third.
But the Russian wobbled, double faulting to give De Jong two break points which he grabbed.
Medvedev broke straight back, again failing to serve out but found another gear in the tiebreak to race home.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open winner, has reached three of the last five finals in Melbourne.
He was outplayed by Novak Djokovic in 2021 before a heart-wrenching defeat to Rafael Nadal a year later.
He imploded against Jannik Sinner in 2024, crashing in five sets after being two up.
AUGER-ALIASSIME RETIRES INJURED FROM MELBOURNE FIRST ROUND
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime suffered heartbreak on Monday as his Australian Open ended prematurely and in pain when he quit his first-round match with an injury.
The seventh seed, a Melbourne quarterfinalist in 2022, won the opening set 6-3 against Nuno Borges of Portugal but then lost the next two 6-4, 6-4 before retiring.
It was not immediately clear what the injury was, but the 25-year-old walked gingerly to the net to shake hands with his opponent.
"It is part of tennis and it's a long schedule and physically it's demanding, so I can understand," the 46th-ranked Borges said in his on-court interview.
"I hope he gets better quick and back to his best level.
"It's a great win for me either way, really happy to push through this one and get another opportunity on Wednesday."
Borges faces Australian wildcard Jordan Thompson or Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina next.
CILIC THRASHES ALTMAIER, WAWRINKA ADVANCES
Former Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic turned back the clock with a ruthless display to beat Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-0 6-0 7-6(3) in the first round at Melbourne Park on Monday.
The towering 37-year-old won the opening 12 games with minimum fuss to spark chatter of a rare Grand Slam main draw "triple bagel", which has been achieved by only five players in the professional era, the last being Sergi Bruguera in the 1993 French Open.
Cilic, the 2018 runner-up at Melbourne Park, saved a breakpoint at the start of the third set to remain on track but Altmaier suddenly clicked into gear.
The German made it 1-1, and in doing so snapped a 25-game losing streak stretching back to his 6-3 6-0 defeat by Jaume Munar in the Adelaide International last week.
It was a much more evenly-contested match from there and Croatian Cilic had to rally from behind in the tiebreak to close out the win.
Fellow veteran and 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka then joined Cilic in the second round, the Swiss battling from a set down to see off unseeded Serb Laslo Djere 5-7 6-3 6-4 7-6(4).
The 40-year-old, who won his three Grand Slam titles during the golden era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, is making his final Melbourne Park appearance as a wild card after announcing that 2026 would be his last season on the tour.