Day One of the Australian Open saw the lower half of the Men’s Draw get underway. With three Australian Men taking on tough challengers, the local fans clamored their support. Upset wins by Bryden Klein and Bernard Tomic and a tough four set loss by local favorite Samuel Groth signaled a good day for the gang from down under. Groth lost to American Mardy Fish in a tight 7-6, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 match.

It was the play of Klein and Tomic that had Melbourne buzzing after day one. With four Australians set to play on Day Two, the future looks good. Klein battled German Bjorn Phau in a long four set match in sweltering heat. After winning the first set convincingly, 6-1, Klein dropped the second 2-6 before clawing his way to a 7-5, 7-6 win. The boisterous crowds celebrated every Klein winner, but Phau seemed unperturbed. Klein’s power serve assured him the victory as he clicked on 63% of his first serves and converted 50% of his break opportunities. His 2nd round opponent will be 15th seeded Swiss hopeful Stanislas Wawrinka who prevailed through a five set marathon with Czech Ivo Minar.

Australian Bernard Tomic breezed into the second round with a straight set 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win over Italian Potitio Starace. Starace seemed awestruck by the combination of one-sided crowd favoritism and intense heat, but now looks forward to competing in the doubles. Tomic will play Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller is the second round.

Seventh seeded Andy Roddick is a long shot to win the title but is playing ferociously. Following his final appearance at Sydney, Roddick displayed newfound confidence in blowing away Sweden’s Bjorn Rehnquist 6-0, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick is showing the fiery game that once had him atop the tennis rankings. Roddick plays Belgium’s Xavier Malisse in the second round.

Rodger Federer took center court for the final match of day one and overcame stubborn Italian Andreas Seppi. Federer has throngs of fans but was certainly off his A game. He will need sharper play to achieve the finals. The number 2 seed plays Russian Evgeny Korolev in the second round.

8th seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina cruised past Mischa Zverev 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. His second round opponent will be German Florian Mayer. Del Porto was in control throughout the match although the young German had opportunities to extend the match.

26th seed Marat Safin of Russia looked sharp from the opening as he blasted his way past overmatched Ivan Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Safin meets another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.

Defending champion and 3rd seeded Novak Djokovic heads the strong Serbian entries at this year’s Open. Experts have questioned the champions training but he looked ready on Day One with a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 win over unheralded Italian Andrea Stoppini. Djokovic plays clay court expert Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the second round.

Day One contained no surprises in the Men’s Draw. Play was predictable. The heat took its toll, but experience showed. All seeds held their position in the bottom half of the draw. With four Australians taking the courts today, crowds are expected to be large and raucous.