Cobolli collapses as stars progress early on Day 1

It was a day to forget for Flavio Cobolli at the AO. (Getty/Cameron Spencer)

After a record-breaking and not uncontroversial Opening Week, the main draw is officially underway at Melbourne Park, and Italian 20th seed Flavio Cobolli is the opening seed to fall.

Having drawn British qualifier Arthur Fery in the first round, the bookies predicted the 23-year-old Italian would be amongst the early winners on opening Sunday. The world No.185 and Stanford University alumni, however, had other ideas. 

Entering the tournament off an impressive qualifying campaign that included wins over Bernard Tomic and Croatian Dino Prižmić, who once took Novak Djokovic to four sets on Rod Laver Arena, Fery was far from overawed as he exchanged blows with his more fancied opponent in the first set.

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While Cobolli looked distressed and agitated as he repeatedly received medical attention for a stomach issue, Fery got down to business and moved Cobolli all over the court when the chance presented, always playing one extra ball. 

Taking the first set in a tie-breaker, the Australian crowd could sense an upset and rallied around the Brit whose presence grew as Cobolli wilted under the Melbourne sun 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-1.  

"Incredible experience here," said Fery in the aftermath of his fourth ATP tour-level win (and third at Grand Slam level). "My first time playing a main draw Slam outside of Wimbledon, and it didn't disappoint on such a great court with great fans as well."

After the match, Cobolli was quick to arrive at the media terrace for some brief broadcast interviews; a sure sign he didn't plan on hanging around Melbourne Park for long. 

Fery will face Thomas Etcheverry for a place in the third round on Wednesday after the Argentinian defeated Miomir Kecmanović in five sets on 1573 Arena 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Elsewhere, WTA stars Jasmine Paolini and Maria Sakkari commenced their campaigns with convincing wins over Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Leolia Jeanjean, respectively. 

Paolini, the 7th seed, had the honour of opening proceedings against the Belarusian qualifier and looked calm and composed as she raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set inside 20 minutes.  While clearly the better player, the Italian didn't have to overcomplicate matters as her (perhaps overwhelmed) opponent gifted her 17 of the 27 points she won.  

Despite winning only 42 per cent of her points on first serve, Sasnovich briefly found some rhythm to avoid a first-set bagel, but it did little to stem the tide as Paolini raced through her service game to take the set 6-1. 

The second set followed a similar and largely uncompetitive trend as Paolini took the match 6-1, 6-2, as Sasnovich was unable to continue the form that saw her progress through qualifying.  

Over on Margaret Court Arena, unseeded Greek Maria Sakkari recovered from a slow start to defeat her French opponent 6-4, 6-2. 

Quickly falling behind 0-3, her Greek fans would've been wondering what they were watching as Sakkari's improved United Cup form was absent.  

That, however, was just about the last moment of jeopardy in the match, as Sakkari found her feet and muscled her way back into the contest when she broke Jeanjean to love in the seventh game. 

Holding quickly to bring the score to 4-4, Sakkari asserted her dominance and ran away with the match 6-4, 6-2. 

For her efforts, Sakkari will play the winner of Monday night's blockbuster between 8th seed Mirra Andreeva and Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekić. 

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