You don't lose it. The ageing bones of Lleyton Hewitt might not work as consistently on the tennis court anymore, but when it clicks he can still show these young whipper-snappers a thing or two.

The 34-year-old snaffles the first break of serve in the match to take control of this opening set.

*denotes next serve

This really is a surprise. That's Shuai Zhang's first win in a Grand Slam - what a way to do it! She's now in floods of tears on the Margaret Court Arena. Aaahh...

Another upset! World number two Simona Halep has gone. She's following Venus Williams and Rafa Nadal onto the plane home... 

Hang on, she's broken her again. Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang's serving for the match here. Second seed Simona Halep on the brink...

Phew! The majority of those inside the Rod Laver Arena breath a sigh of relief - not least Lleyton Hewitt. The veteran Aussie - playing his final Grand Slam before retiring remember - survives that break point, going on to hold off James Duckworth in deuce.

"Has an Australian player ever had less support than James Duckworth right now?" asks David Law, our man on the 5 live sports extra mic. Probably not.

You can hear a pin drop as Duckworth cracks a forehand winner for the first break point of the match...

Zhang lost three games in a row - but has only gone and broken back! Fist pumps from Zhang. Halep pretends to do up her shoelace... 

Is this a chance for Hewitt? The two-time Grand Slam champion has a sniff at 0-30, before Duckworth rediscovers his serve. Hewitt plants a forehand into the tape for 40-30, then he goes long in the next point. Duckworth breathes a sigh of relief as he is let off the hook. Competitive start.

A double fault is not the start to game four that Lleyton Hewitt was after. But he recovers well, crashing out four successive points for a comfortable hold. No quarter given from either bloke on serve in these opening exchanges.

Lleyton Hewitt is one of the great returners of our time, but is struggling to get near James Duckworth's probing forehand. The younger Aussie holds to love as we remain on serve in Rod Laver Arena.

Encouraging signs for Simona Halep as she attempts to keep her Australian Open hopes alive. The Romanian breaks the serve of Chinese opponent Shuai Zhang early in the second set.

Ear-splitting applause for Lleyton Hewitt as he walks to the baseline for the first time today - and possibly for the final match of his career.

But a confident start from James Duckworth who smacks down two aces for 30-0 and, despite a double fault, goes on to win to 15.

* denotes next serve

So is this going to be the last we see of Lleyton Hewitt on court? The 34-year-old, a two-time Grand Slam champion, is hanging up his racquet after this tournament remember.

In his way today is another Aussie - 23-year-old James Duckworth. Duckworth has never gone past the second round of a Slam before and is here after winning the Australian Open wild card play-off.

The world number 129 will serve first....

Uh oh...another big name could be heading home. Second seed Simona Halep survives a set point at 5-3 down, battling back to wipe out Shuai Zhang's break.

But the Romanian blows that hard work in the next game as Zhang crashes in a winning forehand to take the first set.

Huge roars from the Melbourne crowd as Lleyton Hewitt, trademark back-to-front baseball cap on his head, strolls out on to court.

Plenty of green and gold in the Rod Laver Arena stands for this all-Australian affair...

An acoustic guitarist is entertaining the crowd as the almost-full Rod Laver Arena awaits Lleyton Hewitt and his opponent James Duckworth.

I don't who he is but it is better than the PA system pumping out Bieber or some other rubbish...

We've seen both Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal fail to sail over the first hurdle today - surely Simona Halep isn't going to suffer the same fate?!

Well, it's not looking great for the women's second seed. The Romanian is close to losing the first set as Chinese opponent Shuai Zhang, ranked 133rd in the world, serves for the opener. 

Image source, AP

Dan Evans' first appearance at the Australian Open ended in a 6-1 6-0 6-4 defeat in 88 minutes by Spain's Feliciano Lopez.

The 25-year-old Briton came through three rounds of qualifying but could not cope with Lopez's powerful serve.

Evans made a better fist of the final set and held his first four service games but could not make any impression on the Spaniard's serve.

Image source, Reuters

Johanna Konta outclassed eighth seed Venus Williams 6-4 6-2 to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

Britain's number one, 24, raced to victory in 79 minutes as seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams, her left thigh heavily strapped, struggled.

Konta denied that 35-year-old Williams' age had anything to do with the American's laboured display.

"It's irrelevant how old she is because she's such a champion with so much experience and knowledge," said Konta.

British number one Andy Murray saw off German teenager Alexander Zverev with ease to reach the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Murray, 28, dominated throughout against the former junior world number one to secure a 6-1 6-2 6-3 victory.

The world number two will now face Australian Sam Groth, holder of the game's fastest serve, on Thursday.

Read the full report here