MELBOURNE (APP) – World number one Novak Djokovic got his quest for a fifth Australian Open title off to a winning start in straight sets on Tuesday.
The Serb top seed eliminated Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in 1hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena and will next play either Russian Andrey Kuznetsov or Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Djokovic, who lost to eventual winner Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals of last year’s event, has been troubled by illness in the lead-up to the year’s first major tournament.
But after encountering early problems from the 116th-ranked Bedene he went on to secure passage into the next round.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic broke Bedene’s service four times and only had three break points against his serve in the match.
“For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I’m still developing my game,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully, it’s going to be better in the next one, but credit to Bedene for playing well today.
“I’ve seen him play only once before and on centre court he had nothing to lose and he has a very quick service motion so it was difficult to read his serve.”If you have a good serve, you have a good chance to play a good match, so I am just glad to go through.”
