Robin Soderling with a facepalm during his loss to Marcel Granollers. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

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The second day of the Australian Open was an incredible slate of action, with more than half of the men in the draw in action.  A whole lot of matches went in unexpected directions--here's a look at a whole lot of them.

Day 2 Men's First Round Singles Results:

Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def. Igor Andreev (RUS) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-0 -- Roger Federer dropped the first set in a first round match at a slam for the first time since 2003, and faced set points in the third on the verge of going down two sets to one.  But whereas his girlfriend Maria Kirilenko was able to close out her big win over Maria Sharapova, Igor Andreev couldn't shut the door.  By the time it got to a third set tiebreak, the ending was clear to everyone.

Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 -- A tough start for Djokovic, but he got the needed late break in the first set and cruised from there on.  He looked kinda grouchy throughout, though very sharply dressed in the black and red stuff of his new clothing sponsor, Sergio Tacchini.

Marcel Granollers (ESP) def. Robin Soderling (SWE)[8] 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 -- The highest seed out of the tournament in either draw thus far is Robin Soderling, who blew a two-set lead in losing to Marcel Granollers(-Pujol).  Granollers seemed to swing the entire momentum of the match in his direction on a single shot, a behind the back winner on set point in the third set.  From there the match appeared to be in his hands, as Soderling never looked full strength.  There was talk of Soderling being injured going into this tournament, and his jam-packed pre-AO schedule this year of Abu Dhabi, Chennai, and Kooyong certainly didn't help matters either.  A disappointing loss for sure in a part of the year where Soderling wasn't defending many points.

Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[9] def. Carsten Ball (AUS)[W] 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 7-5, 6-2 -- The first big scare of the day was to Fernando Verdasco, who comes into this tournament defending more points than he's ever had to before on the back of his Australian Open semifinal run in 2009.  Carsten Ball is a huge-serving lefty, and with a final in Los Angeles last summer, he's easily the most established of any of the Australian wild cards on the men's side.  Verdasco toughed it out, and in the end looked pretty sharp and ready to make another good run at this tournament.

Marin Cilic (CRO)[14] def. Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 -- Now that he acquired that totally meaningless mark as being the first player to play in slams in four different decades, hopefully Fabrice Santoro takes a lesson from a book other than Brett Favre's and learns how to retire.

Santiago Giraldo (COL) def. Tommy Robredo (ESP)[16] 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 -- I've always been very impressed by Giraldo's game whenever I've seen him.  He hits his forehand as hard as any I've ever seen.  But Tommy Robredo is a top sixteen seed, and Giraldo hits his second serve about as well as Dementieva does.  A pretty inexcusable loss, especially disappointing after he led Spain to a win in the Hopman Cup a week ago.

David Ferrer (ESP)[17] def. Frederico Gil (POR) 6-0, 6-0, 2-0 ret. -- Even though its not a true triple bagel, very impressive percentage of games won so far in this tournament for Ferrer.

Tommy Haas (DEU)[18] def. Simon Gruel (DEU) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 -- No real insights into the play this match, but instead a comment on the fact that Haas was hatless.  Richard Gasquet and Lleyton Hewitt, who alongside Haas have become the poster boys for the backwards hat in tennis of late, all played today without headwear of any kind.  John Isner, who recently turned his hat backwards, is now the only top player to sport the look.  Good thing Isner has big feet, because there's a lot of shoes to fill.

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[20] def. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-7(9), 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 6-4 -- This was the epic of the tournament on a big stage so far, with two usual suspects in Youzhny and Gasquet, neither a stranger to early round dramatics.  As Gasquet had match points in the fifth, Youzhny began to cramp up.  Though Youzhny fought through the fourth and to a 2-0 lead in the fifth, Gasquet took a 4-2 lead.  Then Gasquet began to cramp as well, and Youzhny, who had more time left on the clock to get over his cramping took advantage.  Gasquet loses a heartbreaker on Margaret Court Arena for the second consecutive year, after losing 12-10 in the fifth to Fernando Gonzalez last year.

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[22] def. Ricardo Hocevar (BRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 -- Very easy win for Hewitt in a night session match in front of a supportive crowd.  Perhaps the big news out of this one is that he is playing sans hat for the first time in quite a while, and sporting some sort of faux-hawk.  Old dogs can learn new tricks when it comes to hairstyling, apparently.

Ivan Dodig (CRO) def. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[23] 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 -- Bad, bad loss for Ferrero.  By the look of the scoreline, I'm guessing Ferrero got injured midway through, though I haven't read anything to that effect.

Rainer Schuettler (GER) def. Sam Querrey (USA)[25] 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 -- Not a good loss for Querrey, who recently ceded his position as American #2 to John Isner.  I just hope that freak accident with the plate glass table in Thailand doesn't wind up being something that derailed Querrey's entire career.

Juan Monaco (ARG)[30] def. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-1 -- Ernests Gulbis is definitely one of the most frustrating players in tennis history.  The game is all there, but the execution is horrendous.  Monaco really didn't play very well at all in this one, but it was plenty well enough for a straight sets win against the careless Latvian.

Denis Istomin (UZB) def. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)[32] 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 -- What self-respecting seed only wins four games against an also-ran like Denis Istomin? This result hasn't gotten any buzz that I've heard, but it's easily one of the more bizarre scorelines of the tournament so far.  Chardy better hope he does better at Roland Garros, because even his native French fans will boo him off the court for another effort that poor.

John Isner (USA)[33] def. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4 -- Tired from a long week in winning the Auckland title and a rough journey to Melbourne, big ups to John Isner for getting through a five setter against the veteran Seppi, for what is his first win at a Grand Slam outside the United States.  He's got a real nice section of the draw to work with, and could very well make some big noise before he's done Down Under.

James Blake (USA) def. Arnaud Clement (FRA) 7-5, 7-5, 6-2 -- A very solid win for Blake over a real tough out in former Australian Open finalist Clement.  Clement had just made the finals in Auckland a few days ago, which might have left him more exhausted than sharp by the way he looked out on the court.  Blakemight be playing well to at least make life somewhat difficult for Juan Martin del Potro in the next round, though I really can't see the now-30 year-old American winning unless del Potro's banged-up wrist gets significantly worse.

Taylor Dent (USA) def. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 -- Real nice, convincing win for Dent, who isn't looking like much of a fluke right now.  He then went to the ESPN studio for a sort of an odd visit during Oudin-Kudryavtseva where he seemed to think he was auditioning for a role as a commentator later in life.  He had some real nice things to say about Melanie Oudin, but then some not as nice things to say about missing the impending birth of his first child might not be so bad, because having to watch childbirth could be really gross.

Donald Young (USA) def. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 -- Any win is a big win for qualifier Donald Young.  Is this finally the year where he stops being a disappointment at most every event he enters?

Louk Sorensen (IRL) def. Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 -- Slainte to qualifier Louk Sorenson, who is the first Irishman to win a grand slam main draw match in the Open Era.  And a pretty convincing win it was.  In other news, Lu seems incapable of playing well against anybody who isn't really good.