The Serb, who is bidding to become only the second man to win five titles in Melbourne, came through 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in just under two hours to set up a clash with Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov in the next round.

"For a first round performance it was pretty good," said Djokovic, who has been suffering with a virus this month. 

"Still need to work on some things.

"I'm still developing my game so I'm glad to go through.

"It has been a rough two weeks health-wise but I'm getting there."

Meanwhile, defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland cruised past Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and will now face Romania's Marius Copil for a place in the last-32 of the competition.

"First Grand Slam is never easy, but I'm happy the way I played," said Wawrinka.

"I play some good tennis and I have confidence with my game in general."

Serena Williams beat Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets ©Getty Images




There were also wins for fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, who overcame Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 to set up a meeting with Croatia's Ivan Dodig in round two, and eighth seed Milos Raonic of Canada, who won two tie breaks en route to a 7-6(3), 7-6(3), 6-3 victory against Ukrainian qualifier Illya Marchenko.

Meanwhile in the women's draw, world number one Serena Williams proved too strong for Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck, winning 6-0, 6-4.

Success in the tournament would move the American onto 19 Grand Slam titles in the Open era, putting her into out-right second place behind Germany's Steffi Graff on 22.

"If I could get to 19 in Australia that would be beyond amazing, so we'll see," said Williams. 

"I have a lot of work to do but I'm just going to enjoy myself."

Last year's beaten-finalist Dominika Cibulková of Slovakia came from a set behind against Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, while former world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat the United States' Taylor Townsend 7-6(1) 6-2.

Next for Wozniacki is a tricky-looking match against Russia's Victoria Azarenka, a two-time champion, who is unseeded having been plagued by injury in 2014. 

"Being an unseeded player, it's not a surprise that I have a tough draw or tough opponents in the early rounds," said Azarenka. 

"I just need to go through that.

"I accept the challenges."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2015: Ivanovic knocked-out by qualifier as Australian Open begins