Melbourne : The supportive signs and dozens of Serbian flags and loud chants of Novak Djokovic’s nickname filled Rod Laver Arena, providing a warm welcome marking his return to the Australian Open — a tournament he has dominated in the past but one he could not enter a year ago.

Djokovic acknowledged the greeting with a quick wave of his left hand when he stepped out onto the court at local time 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, then got down to business by playing quite well and only briefly showing a hint of trouble from the balky left hamstring that was heavily taped.

He began the first-round match with an ace at 125 mph (201 kph) and a love hold, took control of that set with a 12-point run and was on his way to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory over 75th-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena that finished after midnight.

Djokovic’s participation is one of the chief story lines, perhaps the MAIN one, of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2023. That’s because Djokovic never got to play a point last season at Melbourne Park, the site of nine of his major championships, because his visa was blocked and he was deported from Australia after a legal saga tied to his lack of any vaccination for COVID-19.

He never did get the shots and also missed the U.S. Open because of it. But Australia’s government has since relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions, allowing Djokovic to come to the country, and also waived a rule that could have stopped him from getting in for three years following a visa revocation. He has insisted that whole episode in January 2022 deeply affected him but that he does not hold a grudge; there certainly did not seem to be any hard feelings toward him Tuesday.

Spectators who politely applauded Carballes Baena when he entered the stadium stood and roared for the 35-year-old Djokovic. A sing-song, soccer-style chant of “Olé, olé, olé, olé!” followed by the two-syllable moniker “Nole!” (pronounced NO-leh) echoed under the arena’s closed retractable roof, and would be repeated over and over: during the warmup period; when Djokovic switched sides of the net after the first game; when he was in the midst of climbing out of a love-40 hole in the first set (the only three break points he would face all night); when he broke to lead 4-3 in the second; etc., etc., etc. There were more of those cheers at the end, and Djokovic smiled broadly.

Murray tops Berrettini in 5-set epic

Metal hip, bloody knee and all, Andy Murray produced his biggest victory in years.

Murray built a huge lead, let it disappear completely, then needed to save a match point against Matteo Berrettini — who is nearly a full decade younger and ranked more than 50 places higher — before managing to pull out a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6) triumph across more than 4 1/2 epic hours on Tuesday in the Australian Open’s first round.

“The last few years, I’ve certainly questioned myself at times. There’s certainly a lot of people (who) questioned me and my ability, whether I could still perform at the biggest events and the biggest matches,” said the 35-year-old Murray, a former No. 1 now ranked No. 66. “I felt very proud of myself after the match. That’s not something that I generally felt over the years at the end of tennis matches.”

By beating the 13th-seeded Berrettini, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2021, Murray became only the fifth man in the Open era with 50 match wins at the Australian Open, joining Djokovic, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Stefan Edberg. It was difficult to imagine that the night session matches scheduled to follow in Laver could possibly equal the intensity and drama. First came a 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-1 win for the No. 2-seeded woman, Ons Jabeur, over Tamara Zidansek. (AP)