Fan favorite off to flying start

Rounding up the Chinese contingent's first-round outings was men's star Wu Yibing, the 2017 US Open boys' champion, who snatched up his first main-draw victory at the AO on Tuesday by outlasting Italy's world No 108 Luca Nardi 7-5, 4-6,6-4, 6-2 in Melbourne's scorching heat in nearly three hours.

It was only Wu's fourth career main-draw win across the four Slams after the former junior world No 1's career ascent was severely disrupted by multiple injuries since his heroics in New York as a junior.

Still carrying a right leg muscle strain, which occurred during the qualifiers, Wu said he's happy with the level he managed to deliver even though not 100 percent healthy.

"I think I've grown more patient with my game when I am not fully physically well," said the 26-year-old Wu, who won Chinese men's first professional singles title at the ATP250 tournament in Dallas, Texas, in 2023.

"I will work with my team to try to recover my fitness and look forward to playing my best game when I am 100 percent healthy," said Wu, who will play against Eliot Spizzirri of the United States in the second round.

"My goal is to fight into the second week here. But I will always focus on the next match and take one step at a time."