• Australian Open, Plays of the Day

Escape artists and karaoke classics

Thiemo de Bakker let the match slip from his grasp © PA Photos

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Statement of intent
He may not be the top seed in Melbourne, but he certainly looks like the man to beat. Roger Federer is showing the kind of confidence that saw him sweep to victory last year, and the defending champion was in fourth gear as he eased past Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3.

Houdini would have been proud
Gael Monfils narrowly avoided the unwelcome honour of being the first seeded player to crash out, somehow managing to dig his way out of trouble against Thiemo de Bakker. The Dutchman served for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but Monfils hung on to eventually triumph over 6-7(5) 2-6 7-5 6-2 6-1. De Bakker took out his frustration on the lid of the Wilson bin in the Hisense Arena.

Sweet Caroline
World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki overcame nerves to win her opening match against Gisela Dulko, but it was a karaoke classic rather than her booming forehand that journalists were interested in. It may not be her ring tone, but the top seed admits she has crooner Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' on her phone. "I know him. Well, I don't know him, but I know who he is," she said.

Davydenko sent packing
What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Nikolay Davydenko had beaten Roger Federer to claim the title in Doha, and was tipped as a real contender in Melbourne. Still struggling to find his rhythm after a broken wrist disrupted his 2010 season, Davydenko looked to be back in the swing of things when he beat world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in Qatar. But the No. 23 seed is in danger of plummeting down the rankings after his opening-round 6-3 4-6 7-6 6-4 defeat to Florian Mayer.

An unfortunate habit
For the third year running, Sam Querrey crashed out in the opening round of the Australian Open. The 18th seed was dumped out of the tournament by Poland's Lukasz Kubot after an epic battle that finished 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-1 8-6. Querrey had his chances - he led 2-1, but despite 19 aces he faces an early flight back to the USA.

A sign of things to come
Grigor Dimitrov won his first grand slam match. Tipped as one of ESPN's stars to watch in 2011, the 19-year-old has been dubbed 'Baby Federer', and the resemblence to the 16-time grand slam champion's fluid strokes is uncanny. It wasn't just any old victory for the Bulgarian either, as he outclassed world No. 38 Andrey Golubev 6-1 6-4 6-2. 2011 could be a big year for the world No. 105.

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