Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a shot during the men's singles first round match against Donald Young of the United States at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 16, 2018. Novak Djokovic won 3-0. (Xinhua/Zhu Hongye)
MELBOURNE, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A record crowd of over 80,000 crammed into Melbourne Park on Tuesday, to witness the second day of action at the Australian Open and the world's top tennis stars did not to disappoint.
After sitting out the last six months recovering from an elbow injury, all eyes were focused on Novak Djokovic, when he took on seasoned American contenter Donald Young.
Many expected the left-hander to be a very tough first round match for the returning Serbian, however the six-time Australian Open winner finished Young in straight sets, with the final result going Djokovic's way 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
In the rest of the men's bracket, top seeds Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Juan del Potro, Tomas Berdych and David Goffin all booked their place in the second round with relative ease.
While last year's winner and second seed of the tournament, Roger Federer, also blasted his way to a straight sets victory over Slovenian Aljaz Bedene, before getting an on-court visit from a Hollywood superstar.
Comedic actor, Will Ferrell, conducted a post match interview with the Swissman to the delight of those in attendance.
He asked if the 37-year old's longevity and outstanding performance was a result of him being a "witch" or a "vampire?"
He also asked the 19 times Grand Slam winner if the secret to his success downunder was from eating "wombat meat" from a native Australian animal.
In the women's matches, top seeds Simona Halep, Karolína Pliskova, Johanna Konta, Caroline Garcia, Garbine Muguruza and Kristina Mladenovic advanced to the second round, along with local favourite Ashleigh Barty, who battled back from a set down against Belarusian power hitter, Aryna Sabalenka.
The other focal point for fans was the return of Maria Sharapova against German opponent, Tatjana Maria, after the Russian missed last year's Australian Open due to suspension for a doping violation in 2016.
But the 30-year-old, former world number one showed no signs of faltering and cruised to a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
There was also two Chinese competitors on display, however both found it tough.
Wang Quiang fought back after being a set down to last year's U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys, but got edged out by the American 6-1, 7-5.
While Zhu Li lost an epic 3-set battle against Hsieh Su-wei, 6-0, 0-6, 6-8.
