Australian Open: Djokovic wins in debut under Becker

Defending champion begins campaign opener by subduing Lacko

MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic won his competitive debut under new coach Boris Becker as he got his Australian Open title defence underway in an uncharacteristically loose fashion on Monday.

The Serbian world number two, bidding to win a fourth consecutive Australian title and fifth overall, took close to two hours to subdue 96th-ranked Slovak Lukas Lacko before prevailing 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1. He will face Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the next round.

“There are parts of my game where he definitely can help me out, I can improve,” said Djokovic of his association with Becker.

“I still see the room for improvement with my serve, with the return, with net play and so forth. But also from the mental point of view.”

Elsewhere on a hot opening day in Melbourne, with temperatures forecast to soar for the rest of the week, David Ferrer led fellow top 10 players Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet into the second round.

Third seed Ferrer powered through in straight sets over Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez in just over two hours with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Berdych disposed of Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in his first match and Swiss eighth seed Wawrinka progressed on an injury retirement by his Kazakh opponent Andrey Golubev.

French ninth seed Gasquet got past countryman David Guez 7-5, 6-4, 6-1, while German 12th seed Tommy Haas pulled out of his match while trailing Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 5-2 with a right shoulder problem.

Clinical Serena sweeps into second round

Clinical Serena Williams swept past local hope Ashleigh Barty to move one step closer in her Australian Open campaign to secure an 18th grand slam title.

The American world number one wasted little energy in swatting aside the young Australian 6-2, 6-1 in under an hour to set up a second-round clash with Serbia’s Vesna Dolonc.

“I want to do well here. I would love to have a win, but there are so many good opponents,” said Serena said of the tournament. “I think I need to just come out and enjoy myself.”

Meanwhile, China’s Li Na led the march into round two by demolishing Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-0. However, former great Venus Williams and seventh seed Sara Errani crashed out in the Melbourne heat.

Venus, who fell in a marathon clash against Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Makarova, was sent packing after losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Errani slumped to Germany’s Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-2.

In another match, Thai world number 88 Luksika Kumkhum sprang the biggest upset of the tournament by dumping sixth seed and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in her first match against a top 10 player.