Djokovic impresses in Melbourne opener
Novak Djokovic defied sweltering conditions to ease into the second round of the Australian Open today.
Serbian Djokovic, who won the trophy here in Melbourne 12 months ago at the start of a remarkable year which also saw him emerge victorious at Wimbledon and the US Open, made a convincing start to his title defence against Paolo Lorenzi, winning 6-2 6-0 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena.
His Italian opponent posed few questions but the searing heat did provide Djokovic with the odd headache.
He said of the conditions: "I just need a bit more time to get used to them because the last 10 days or so since I arrived in Melbourne it was quite cold and very windy.
"Today was around 35 degrees so it took a bit of time to get used to the heat. Still I am quite happy with how I'm handling it physically."
As for the match, he added: "It took me a couple of games to find my rhythm but I think I played well after the first set."
Djokovic used the lack of genuine competition to experiment, making regular excursions to the net.
"When you're 3-0, 4-0 up why not try some other things, some things that are not usual characteristics of your game," he said.
"I am definitely working on my net game and am trying to approach the short balls as much as I can and take my chances."
Andy Murray and David Ferrer also advanced, albeit in slightly different circumstances.
Fourth seed Murray dropped the first set against American teenager Ryan Harrison before hitting back to win 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 while Ferrer, seeded five, dropped just seven games in a straight-sets win over Portuguese Rui Machado.
Harrison came out swinging and posed Murray all sorts of problems before the Scot's know-how eventually told.
The 24-year-old, a finalist in each of the last two years here, said: "I remember when I was in that position when I was younger and there was no pressure on me. He came out and played some great tennis and I really had to dig in.
"He is one of the up-and-coming guys and I was expecting a tough match and that's what I got.
"I started to play better towards the end of the match, I had a few nerves at the start."
Gael Monfils, who is seeded to meet Murray in round four, beat Australian wild card Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-3 and his French compatriot Richard Gasquet overcame Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1.
There were also wins for ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic and Milos Raonic, the 23rd seed tipped by many as an outsider for the title.
