There's something unexpectedly electric about a venue that's designed to fit thousands of spectators when it's empty.

Anyone who's been on an MCG tour (or been to a Sheffield Shield match there) will understand what I mean. So it was at Melbourne Park this morning: empty, yet buzzing.

As the slow trickle of patrons began to fill the place up, the buzz of anticipation materialised into the noise and colour of a huge crowd.

People of all ages and nationalities wandered around, in search of good tennis and valuable shade. The Fanatics had transformed Margaret Court Arena into a Twenty20 cricket stadium, complete with beach balls and Mexican waves.

Those expecting a proper Australian summer were not disappointed. The sun beamed from the cloudless sky, creating impossibly long lines for drinking water and ice-creams. I'm certain I saw a Finnish couple melt.

The grounds were littered with lobsters who were cursing their failure to re-apply sunscreen after lunch. Not that everyone was complaining - to one Austrian man I met, having arrived in the last fortnight from the peak of European winter, the sunshine was nothing short of a blessing.

As is often the case in the early rounds, the best action was on the outer courts. Not only do the legions of Dutch and Swedish fans add verve to the atmosphere, but the players are also more evenly matched. Ukrainians were treated to a five-set thriller between two of their countrymen on Court 10, while tenth seed Nicolas Almagro struggled to a four-set win on Court six.

Yet despite an opening-day record attendance of over 45,000, the thinning of the crowd in the outer was conspicuous as the action on Rod Laver Arena progressed. Aussie golden boy Bernard Tomic had fought his way back into his match with Fernando Verdasco, and the garden screen became the place to be.

The crowd cheered the youngster's winners and groaned with his errors. They yelled encouragement at the screen, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Tomic couldn't actually hear them. Ultimately, they rose as one when the stunning comeback was completed. If he wasn't already, the 19-year-old became a hero. You could hear the word "Tomic" coming from every point of Melbourne Park. He was all anyone wanted to talk about. He was all anyone could talk about.

So much for the best action taking place on the outer courts.

Tomic has proven himself a strategic master. He deliberately sent the ball to Verdasco's backhand as he had told us he would the day before. He was playing efficient, controlled tennis, as though preparing himself for a long match. At two sets down, though, the execution of this strategy was letting him down.

However, Tomic revealed a further strategy in his post-match press conference: he had deliberately appeared to give up early in the third set in the hope that the Spaniard would lower his intensity. It was a risky idea - the same ploy would cause other players to go for the throat - but it worked.

But after four hours in the searing Centre Court sun, Tomic is eyeing off a night match next round. "I requested [an afternoon match]. Silly me!" He said after the game. "I would love to play when it's a bit cooler."