Overview
- No. 32 seed Corentin Moutet defeated Tristan Schoolkate 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in two hours and 37 minutes to open his Melbourne campaign.
- The Frenchman required a medical timeout for a leg issue early in the third set, briefly left for treatment, and later described it as cramp.
- In his on-court interview he apologized to the Kia Arena crowd, noting it was his first match of the year and that he felt tired after two sets.
- He closed out the match with an underarm serve and is set to meet the winner of Michael Zheng versus Sebastian Korda in round two.
- Schoolkate, a West Australian who entered the top 100 in 2025, became the first Australian man to exit this year’s event after pre-match chatter framed him as a possible upset pick.