Roger Federer received a huge standing ovation upon his entrance to Rod Laver Arena to play his first tour-level match since 8 July 2016.

But what brings Federer to his feet? Musicals.

“I’m always one of the first guys to give standing ovations because I think it’s really important because these guys do amazing,” Federer said Monday night in Melbourne after his first round win at the Australian Open. “The amount of memorising they have to do, I find that mind-blowing. I’m not very good at remembering stuff like that.”

But Roger certainly proved he’s remembered his way around the tennis court. The four-time champion, who had been sidelined due to a knee injury, opened his campaign at the Australian Open with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Jurgen Melzer. After the victory, he had musicals on his mind.

“I went to see ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ in Perth [and] I met the cast afterwards. I really enjoyed that,” he said. “I saw ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Finding Neverland’ in New York. I liked both of those. They were completely different. ‘Finding Neverland’ was super emotional. We were all crying, all seven people that were there – my daughters, my wife, my mom, everybody. It was a lot of fun.

“I saw ‘Elephant Man’ with Bradley Cooper in London. I just admire that kind of performance. It’s life.”

The 35-year-old’s life in the Melbourne draw continues when he faces American #NextGenATP player Noah Rubin in the second round. No word on whether or not Federer will take in a musical in Melbourne before then.

Roger Federer made a welcome return to the highest level of professional tennis on Monday night at the Australian Open, in his first tour-level match since 8 July 2016.

Federer, who had been sidelined due to a knee injury, opened his campaign over former junior rival and fellow 35-year-old Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and five minutes.

“I thought my serve was on and off in the beginning, which surprised me a little bit, because in practise it’s been going pretty well,” said Federer. “I was feeling nervous once the match actually started. I was actually fine all day, warming up, in the warm-up five minutes with Jurgen. I felt fine. Then I hit four frames in a row. It was like, ‘Whew, it’s not as easy as I thought it was going to be.

“I’m happy I was made to work today. Actually at the end I’m quite happy how I ended, which is most important… It was great to be out there. I really enjoyed myself, even though it wasn’t so simple.”

He goes on to face World No. 200 Noah Rubin, appearing in his third Grand Slam championship, who edged past fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo 6-7(4), 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in three hours and eight minutes.

Four-time former champion Federer recovered from a 2-4 deficit in the first set and, at one stage, won 13 points in a row. Qualifier Melzer won five games in a row from a 1-3 deficit in the second set, but No. 17 seed Federer was in total control the remainder of the pair’s fifth meeting. The Swiss star hit 46 winners, including 19 aces.

It is Federer’s first appearance outside the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at Melbourne Park since 2002 when he ranked No. 12 and his No. 17 seeding is his lowest at a Grand Slam championship since coming in unseeded at 2001 Roland Garros. Pete Sampras was the No. 17 seed when he won his final event, the 2002 US Open.

Stan Wawrinka lived to fight another day on Monday night at the Australian Open.

The fourth seed and 2014 titlist drew upon his big-match experience to come back from a break deficit in the deciding set to edge Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in three hours and 24 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.

”It was tough one, for sure,” said Wawrinka. “But I’m really happy to get through in five sets. It wasn’t my best tennis today, but I was fighting, trying to stay in the game. I think he was playing well. He didn’t give me too much rhythm. He made me play not my best tennis. I’m happy to get through, that’s the most important thing.”

Wawrinka maintained his record of never having lost in the first round at Melbourne Park after he struck 21 aces past Klizan, who finished with a forehand error to see his losing streak extend to 10 matches. It was their first meeting for almost seven years (2010 Casablanca).

The 31-year-old Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal for the trophy three years ago, goes on to play Steve Johnson, a straight sets winner over Federico Delbonis earlier in the day.

Nick Kyrgios, the No. 14 seed, committed only 17 unforced errors as he cruised past Gastao Elias 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in 84 minutes for a place in the second round for the fourth straight year. He next faces veteran Andreas Seppi. “I think I reserved a lot of energy,” said Kyrgios, who experienced sinus problems. “I was actually really impressed with the way I served, the way I returned.”

.

Steve Darcis withstood 19 aces from the racquet of Sam Groth in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory. The Belgian, who has risen nine spots to No. 71 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, goes on to face Diego Schwartzman, who beat his fellow South American, No. 22 seed Pablo Cuevas, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in 82 minutes.

Top seed Andy Murray came up against a determined Illya Marchenko on Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, but the Brit passed his first-round challenge with a solid 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-2 win.

Murray was unable to serve out the first set at 5-3, but regrouped by breaking the Ukrainian at 6-5 to grab the early advantage. Marchenko continued to frustrate the top seed, racing out to a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Murray earned the break back to level the score at 4-4. He then stormed to a 4/1 lead in the tie-break and eventually converted on his third set point opportunity.

The third set was one-way traffic for the Brit. He cleaned up his baseline game considerably, hitting 11 winners to just five unforced errors and breaking Marchenko twice to wrap up the hard-fought win in two hours and 47 minutes.

Murray is seeking his first Australian Open title after finishing runner-up here five times (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016). He also looks to keep his top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings after this fortnight. Should Novak Djokovic manage to defend his title here, Murray will need to reach at least the semi-finals to maintain his current position.

Next up for the World No. 1 is qualifier and #NextGenATP star Andrey Rublev, a four-set winner earlier in the day over Yen-Hsun Lu.

The breakthrough of the day went to 17-year-old wildcard Alex De Minaur, who thrilled the home crowd on Show Court 3 by saving a match point on the way to scoring his first Grand Slam win against Gerald Melzer, 5-7, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1. The young Aussie saved the match point on his serve at 4-5 in the fourth set. He began to cramp in the deciding set, but hung tough to race to a 5-0 lead and eventually secure the victory.

De Minaur opened 2017 by coming through qualifying at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, then won his first ATP World Tour main draw match last week at the Apia International Sydney. He has jumped nearly 250 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings over the past two months to his current standing at No. 301.

Next up for the young Aussie is No. 31 seed Sam Querrey, who rallied from a set down to defeat wildcard and #NextGenATP star Quentin Halys, 6-7(10), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4. The Frenchman erased three set points in the opening set tie-break, but Querrey saved a crucial set point on his serve down 4-5 in the second set. The American found the range on his serve in the next two sets, needing just a single break in each to secure the win.

More: Nishikori Prevails In Another Melbourne Five-Setter

One of the biggest upsets of the day came from teenage qualifier Alexander Bublik, who won his first Grand Slam main draw match by recording a stunning 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 16 seed Lucas Pouille. The Kazakhstan native fired 16 aces and won 86 per cent of his first serve points in the match. The 19-year-old reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final this past October at the VTB Kremlin Cup. 

Next up for Bublik is Malek Jaziri, a straight-sets winner earlier in the day over Go Soeda.

No. 19 seed John Isner fought off a late surge from Konstantin Kravchuk to record a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 victory. Isner didn’t drop serve in the match, hammering 33 aces and accumulating 10 break points throughout the contest (converting on four) to prevail in two hours and 23 minutes.

The American now plays Mischa Zverev, a winner earlier in the day over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Isner leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-0, including a win this past November at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.