• Novak Djokovic was seriously rattled early on by inspired American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy but rallied for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory on Monday to keep his bid for an 11th Australian Open title alive into the second round.

The Serbian’s last loss in the first round of a Grand Slam came at the hands of Paul Goldstein at the 2006 Australian Open, only a few months after Basavareddy was born to Indian parents in southern California.

Goldstein went on to become Basavareddy’s head coach at Stanford University and for an hour it looked like the two Americans might well provide bookends to Djokovic’s extraordinary career at Melbourne Park.

Basavareddy, making his Grand Slam debut, made Djokovic look every one of his 37 years as he tore around Rod Laver Arena mixing clean winners with some beautifully deft drop shots.

The 19-year-old had the crowd on their feet when he broke for 4-3 in the first set with a sizzling backhand return, again when he fought off two break points to hold for 5-3, and a third time when Djokovic dumped a backhand into the net to cede the set.

The onslaught continued into the second set as Djokovic tried to reassert himself and it was not until the eighth game that the former world number one managed to convert his first break point of the contest.

Djokovic let out a huge roar as Basavareddy miscued the forehand that gave him the breakthrough and served out to level up the contest as the young American started cramping.

The seventh seed broke again to open the third set and although Basavareddy showed glimpses of the shot-making that won him the first set, Djokovic was now back in charge on the blue court where he has won 10 of his 24 Grand Slam titles.

Another huge roar came as Djokovic sealed the third set and he stopped off for a chat with one-time adversary Andy Murray in his coach’s box before breaking Basavareddy again at the start of the fourth.

Basavareddy was now exhausted by his Herculean early efforts and the roars from the other end continued as Djokovic drove home his dominance before wrapping up his 378th Grand Slam victory with his 23rd ace on his fourth match point.

“In the end it was great, but he was the better player for the first set and a half and he deserved every bit of applause he got as he left the court,” said Djokovic.

“This kind of match is always tricky, playing against someone who has nothing to lose. He handled himself really well and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of him in the future.”

‘Freak’ Alcaraz puts on a show to crush Shevchenko

Carlos Alcaraz was impressed with his level early in his bid to complete a career Grand Slam after an imperfect but entertaining 6-1 7-5 6-1 win over Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko to ease into the Australian Open second round on Monday.

Four-times major champion Alcaraz is targeting his maiden trophy at Melbourne Park to become the youngest man to capture all four Grand Slam titles and the 21-year-old went all guns blazing for an emphatic victory after a nervy opening game.

A mid-match dip notwithstanding, the Spaniard pulled off extraordinary shots which prompted retired Australian player John Millman to ask him after the contest what the secret to being such a “freak” was.

“I always say that it’s hard work,” a beaming Alcaraz said.

“I try to bring the best of me every day. That’s the secret. Every day I try to be a better person and better player.”

The third seed, still fine-tuning a new service motion that he adopted in the off season, fended off a break point and then broke in the third game to take full control of the opening set which he wrapped up in double quick time.

“I think I played a great level,” Alcaraz, who did not contest any of the tune-up tournaments, told reporters later.

“Honestly, the first match of the season you never know how it’s going to be. I had the confidence to think that I was going to be good, but you never know.

“I’m just really happy with the level that I played, with everything I’ve done today. But I really want to be better in the next round.”

Ailing Kyrgios makes gloomy exit

ick Kyrgios’slong-awaited return to the Grand Slam stage was cut short on Monday as Briton Jacob Fearnley sent the ailing home hero out of the Australian Open in the first round.

A capacity crowd packed out Kyrgios’s favourite John Cain Arena for his first match at Melbourne Park in three years, hoping the tennis showman could shrug off an abdominal strain to battle through.

Most left deflated as Kyrgios went down swinging in a 7-6(3) 6-3 7-6(2) defeat, with the injury hampering his serve and movement.

With most of his last two seasons wiped out due to knee problems and wrist surgery, a gloomy Kyrgios said he might have played his last singles match at Melbourne Park given his injury fatigue.

“I went out there, I would say 65% of my capacity,” he told reporters.

“For (the fans) to really see me fighting and still giving me that energy, it meant a lot, because I feel like I’ve given my life to tennis and I’ve tried to give them a show every time I go out there.

“Realistically, I can’t see myself playing a singles match here again.”

Though lamenting his fitness, Kyrgios was full of praise for Fearnley who was impressive on debut at the year’s first Grand Slam as he set up a second round match with Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.

“Obviously extremely nervous before the match, I didn’t get much sleep,” Fearnley said on court.

“Sorry for Nick, I could tell he was dealing with some stuff. But I thought it was a great match and I really enjoyed playing with you guys.

“All things considered, it’s probably the best match (I’ve played).”