To the tennis! Osaka and Pavlyuchenkova have taken to the Rod Laver Arena court and are warming up. Won’t be too much longer. The general vibe from Melbourne Park seems to be one of gratitude on the part of those lucky enough to be there. Not long until the actual tennis starts now – the clock has just tick over to 11am local time. In the men’s draw, needless to say Nick Kyrgios has been grabbing his fair share of headlines already. The Australian plays later today, wrapping up the day’s play on John Cain Arena against Frederico Ferreira Silva, not before 7pm AEDT, when he’ll have a chance to let his tennis do the talking. The latest in his spat with Novak Djokovic? The Serbian world No 1 “doesn’t have much respect for him” off the court. That follows, of course, Kyrgios branding Djokovic “a tool” for his views on players’ rights in hotel quarantine (and a whole bunch of stuff preceding that). Naomi Osaka, seeded three and this year’s favourite to add to her 2019 Australian Open crown, gets things under way this morning against the Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. It’s likely to be an early test for the reigning US Open champion, given the quality of her opponent – ranked 39 and a quarter-finalist in all four grand slams – and a niggling shoulder injury Osaka is carrying that forced her out of the Gippsland Trophy semi-final on Saturday. Jonathan Howcroft wrote over the weekend on the strength of the women’s draw, and had this to say on Osaka: The Japanese star offers the strongest all-round package – technically, athletically, and mentally – reflected in her triumphing in three of the past eight slams, including most recently at Flushing Meadows. But off-court she does not subscribe to the cookie-cutter expectations of high performance athletes. She is introverted, which can come across as coy. She thinks deeply about how she communicates and often treats mundane press conferences as reflective therapy. She is increasingly finding her voice, evidenced most clearly by her powerful support for the Black Lives Matter movement during her US Open triumph. She accomplished a rare feat of drawing attention to a matter of significance and engaging with it fearlessly, all while avoiding gimmickry. First evidence of a “slam like no other” from our man on the ground at Melbourne Park today, Jonathan Howcroft. Weather update. This time last year (well, a bit over a year ago, given the delay to the start of this year’s tournament), before Covid was a global concern, all talk was of the catastrophic bush fires raging throughout Australia. Qualifying for the Open had been affected by the poor air quality and there were even suggestions of cancelling the grand slam. Twelve months on, thankfully there are not the same concerns in Victoria (although sadly there are in Western Australia); air quality rates as “moderate” in Melbourne today. The weather too could be classed as moderate – it’s 17C and cloudy and for now at least there’s no need to have a conversation about players wilting in extreme heat. Preamble Here we are then. In the midst of a global pandemic, the first tennis grand slam of the year is about to get under way at Melbourne Park, with some fans in attendance, and with some vague semblance of normality. Incredible really, and a testament to how well Australia has handled Covid-19 so far. Things won’t be exactly how they usually are, of course, and the buildup to the tournament has been anything but normal – “prison-like conditions” in hotel quarantine, whingeing players, Covid scares, a cancelled day of a full day of tennis, and a lack of proper preparation time for many players have seen to that. Then there’s the distinct absence of a level playing field, given the events of the past year – and recent weeks. Quite how that will impact the tournament remains to be seen. We’ll get an initial idea soon enough; play on day one begins at 11am AEDT, as world No 3 Naomi Osaka takes to Rod Laver Arena to take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova first up. Serena Williams follows against Germany’s Laura Siegemund before Dominic Thiem gets his campaign under way. And there’s plenty of other interest elsewhere, with the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Alex Zverev and Bianca Andreescu also hitting the court during a busy day session. It’s a long day ahead. Do get in touch via email or of Twitter (@mike_hytner), if you have anything on your mind. Otherwise, let’s crack on.