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Naomi Osaka began her improbable quest for a third Australian Open title with a hard-fought win over unseeded Croatian Antonia Ruzic at the Rod Laver Arena.
Four-time winner Osaka needed to dig deep against Ruzic, who mounted a valiant fightback to restore parity after dropping the opening set.
The 16th-seeded Japanese used her experience to regain composure and sealed a closely-fought third set and with it the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to progress to the next round.
The two-time winner (2019 and 2021) at Melbourne Park made a spectacular entry at the Rod Laver Arena, sporting a dazzling self-designed outfit.
Similar to her career graph, it was a see-saw performance from the flamboyant Japanese.
"It's modelled after a jellyfish," she said of her get-up. "I'm just so grateful that I get to be able to do the things that I love. It's really beautiful."
Meanwhile, Canada's Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up, was knocked out at the first hurdle after a 2-6, 6-7 loss to Janice Tjen, who became the first Indonesian to win a match at Melbourne Park in 28 years.
Fifth seed Elena Rybakina, Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Belinda Bencic, and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko all enjoyed comfortable first-round outings and progressed to the next round with dominant victories in their respective matches.
In the men's singles, 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas rallied from a set down to beat Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki. The 31st-seeded Greek, once dubbed the next big thing but who has struggled for form and fitness in recent years, avoided an embarrassing first-round exit for the second year in a row.
Italian fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti also advanced to the second round after his opponent, Raphael Collignon of Belgium, retired while trailing 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, 3-2.
Eighth seed Ben Shelton of the USA, who enjoyed a superb run till the semi-finals last year, breezed past France's Ugo Humbert in three tight sets.
