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Tomic waves to the crowd and the spectators, as quick as a blink, forgive him and applaud their young hopeful as he leaves the court. The young Australian's shot-making was impressive even though he was playing on one leg and he, and the rest of us, are left wondering 'what if'.

A cacophony of boos echo around Rod Laver Arena after the crowd learn that Tomic has called it a day because of injury.

One thumping forehand from Tomic and then another... Tomic bidding to knock Nadal onto the canvas but the Spaniard is somehow remaining on his feet. The Australian has one more crackerjack of a forehand in him, directs it into the corner for 15-15. But Nadal comes through, a sliced backhand into the net from Tomic, and the first set belongs to Nadal.

Nadal has thrown a bit of spice into proceedings, there's a certain glint in his eye, as he gets ready to cook up a storm with the end of the first set in sight. A lethal forehand from the Spaniard for 30-15 and the east wind is acoming for Tomic. The Australian's response is impressive, a thumping forehand into the corner to draw level. But Nadal ups the ante, grazing the baseline with a forehand for break point and ruthlessly takes advantage.

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Melbourne Park

"An otherwise pleasant evening has been all but ruined by one gentleman dressed in cricket whites parading a giant cardboard cut-out of the Ashes urn during the changeover, to riotous applause. The nearby yellow-clad 'Fanatics' seem convinced that Bernie Tomic is going to bring further Aussie sporting joy tonight, but there was a collective groan from everyone else when he took an early medical timeout. He inspires hope more than faith at this stage in his career."

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A backhand into the tape from Nadal and the Spaniard has yet to hit his stride, perhaps the sight of Tomic's face contorting in pain at the other end of the net is slightly off-putting. Tomic lasers a forehand into the corner and Nadal merely nets his response for 30-30. The Spaniard eases off the throttle on his next serve, which outfoxes Tomic, and then counter-punches on the next point - a serve out wide, a forehand into the corner - and this match is developing into a tasty punch up.

Tomic playing with more freedom since he ripped off the strapping on his thigh. At 40-15 he's in control, and the world number one has yet to tune into the Tomic serve. Another boomer out to the wings, and Nadal can only get the tip of his racquet onto it. A hold to 30, it all seems comfortable, but once again Tomic is limping towards his chair.

The scoreboard is a healthy one for Tomic, but will he be able to overpower Nadal with a gammy leg? A beautiful backhand return winner from the 21-year-old for 15-15 suggests there's nothing wrong with his shot-making. A crackerjack of a forehand winner on the run for 40-30 is another glimpse of the array of shots he has at his disposal. But a canny serve out wide from Nadal sends Tomic scampering, a return into the tramlines is all Tomic can muster, and we're level once more.

Tomic grimacing and limping a little as he launches his serves and the crowd nervously look on. He eases 40-0 ahead by keeping the points short, but Nadal can smell that his prey is wounded and tries to work him this way and that, collecting two points in the process. But Tomic bravely pulls through - following up a serve out wide with a crisp forehand winner. He gingerly makes his way towards his chair and removes the strapping on his leg.

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The pair slug it out from the baseline on the opening point, Tomic fetches and retrieves but Nadal is the one in control and ends the rally with a smash. The Spaniard throws in an ace, then Tomic returns wide and it's a hold to love.

Rafael Nadal, beads of sweat dripping down his visage, quietly remains seated, tapping his heels to keep the blood flowing through the legs. But Tomic soon appears. Whistles from the crowd and we're ready to restart.

Tomic leaves the court for a medical time out. The damage seemed to have been done during his opening service game.

This is, of course, the first time since 2012 that Nadal is competing in this tournament after he missed last year's Australian Open because of his knee injury.

A confident forehand into the corner sees Tomic to 40-0 and a big serve out to the wings forces Nadal to go long. A promising start for the Australian, although the doctor has been called to examine Tomic during the changeover...

Rafael Nadal opens with a double fault and murmurs combined with half-hearted applause ripple around the arena. It seems even though the Spaniard is facing a local favourite, spectators still don't want to disrespect the world number one. That double fault is as bad as it gets for the 27-year-old, Tomic netting a return to gift the Spaniard a hold of serve.

Rafael Nadal does his customary sprint towards the back of the court before facing the Tomic serve. The Australian wearing his baseball cap back to front, as every tyke does. An ace to the wings gives him a 40-15 lead but there's reason for concern as Tomic stretches his groin in between points, suggesting there might be a problem. Nadal advances towards the net to swat away a forehand winner but Tomic's response is to launch an ace out wide for a hold to 30.

''He's going to be very intimidating to play," said Tomic, external ahead of this match. "You just have to stay with him. I mean, he is human. He does [make] mistakes, obviously not as much as the other players, but I've got to play very, very good tennis to have any chance.'' Rafael Nadal human? On a tennis court he's a different animal.

Nadal and Tomic have three minutes to warm-up, or it might be best for them to use the time to cool down considering it's apparently still like a pizza oven on Rod Laver. Tomic enters this tournament having reached the final in Sydney. He failed to defend his title, losing to Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-1, and later admitted he didn't go for broke against the Argentine.

Ear-splitting whoops on Rod Laver Arena as crowd favourite Bernard Tomic and world number one Rafael Nadal appear. Has Tomic a chance against the Spaniard? Mark Philippoussis, external has said the 21-year-old needs to be angry, though, in all honesty, he did choose to use another word which I'm not sure I'm allowed to use.

"Don't be afraid to show the world you're fired up. Let everyone know there's a heartbeat," was Philippoussis's advice to his compatriot.

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"The signs have been good in practice and did everything solid," said Murray of his victory over Go Soeda. " I felt freer today than I've done in the last 18 months.

"I'm confident I'm going to be OK, but these hard courts, these tournaments are tough on the body so it's going to be a test for me."

"It only takes one bad thing to happen and it looks terrible for the whole sport," continues Murray. "If people are collapsing, that's obviously not great. The conditions at 2.30pm- 3pm were very tough and anyone is going to struggle in that heat.

"Whether it's safe or not, I don't know but you've got to be careful these days. There have been issues in other sports, with people having heart attacks, with people collapsing... I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to anyone.

"There are different rules for men and the women and I don't understand why."