Four things picked up in Melbourne

1) All’s well again with Serena – but not Djokovic:

After a disappointing 2016, Williams looked physically and mentally refreshed in Melbourne and if those two boxes stay ticked, she can win 30 grand slam titles never mind pass Margaret Court’s all-time best of 24. Djokovic also arrived with a point to prove but left with only more questions to answer, the Serb enduring a shock second-round defeat to Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin. 2 ) Forty the new 30 in the era of the oldies:

Federer’s vintage five-set victory over Rafael Nadal provided a fitting end to a retro-flavoured Australian Open, in which the Williams sisters reconvened in the women’s final and 35-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached the last four at a major tournament for the first time since 1999. This is the only grand slam in the Open era to have boasted four singles finalists aged 30 or older and it points to a very real shift in tennis’ chronology. The game’s old guard may stick around for a good while yet. 3) Dimitrov has matured, Kyrgios not so much:

Andy Murray and Djokovic’s early exits did not pave the way for a freshfaced champion, or even runner-up, but Grigor Dimitrov does finally appear to have got his house in order. The Bulgarian has failed in recent years to live up to his ‘Baby-Fed’ billing but his run to the last four, which ended in a thrilling five-setter with Nadal, showed he is ready to win one of these. Others, however, missed the opportunity, in particular Nick Kyrgios, the combustible Australian who combusted again in a secondround defeat to Andreas Seppi. 4) Konta right in the mix for a grand slam title:

The world No 10 came through a fiendish section of the draw without breaking sweat, before running into an inspired Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. It will almost certainly take a strong run at Wimbledon for her to become a household name at home but make no mistake, Konta is now a genuine grand slam contender.

Andy Murray made a surprise early exit in Melbourne.