MIKE DICKSON’S MELBOURNE ROUND-UP

PUNISHING SCHEDULE

OUTSTANDING Australian teenager Alex de Minaur was unhappy to be playing on the opening day, having been on court twice on Saturday at the Sydney International, where he won the ATP title. The 19-year-old felt he should have been given more time before his first Australian Open match. ‘I think they are punishing Aussies for playing deep in their home tournaments and I think that’s not what they should be doing,’ he said.

HITTING THE HEIGHTS

THE first-round match between Americans John Isner and Reilly opelka is the tallest on record in Grand Slams and only confirmed the trend towards players getting bigger and bigger. These two basketball-style athletes are 6ft 10in and 6ft 11in respectively.

NEW BALLS, NOT PLEASED

ONE topic of conversation this fortnight is likely to be the switch to Dunlop balls from the Wilson brand under a five-year deal signed by Tennis Australia. Some players have been unimpressed, feeling that they fluff up earlier than they ought to. Or as Australian player John Millman said: ‘The balls are s**t.’

MOTHERS’ MEETING

IF Serena Williams needed any tips on combining tennis and motherhood she could always ask her first-round opponent Tatjana Maria, the longeststanding mum playing on the main tour. Maria has a fiveyear-old daughter Charlotte and has kept her career going without the same bumper amount of support care that Serena can afford.

IN GOOD NICK... AT LAST!

NICK KYRGIOS, playing one of the matches of the first round against ex-Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, has been working with psychologists again to try to get his head in the right place. ‘I’ve been seeking help,’ said the Australian. ‘I really don’t want to touch too much on it. ‘Pretty personal stuff that happened last year. I was in some really bad places but right now I feel like I’m in a good spot mentally.’