Australian Open Update

Mens Update
Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Australian Open men's singles title with a straight sets win over Chung Hyeon in Melbourne.

Djokovic needed less than two hours to beat the teenager from South Korea 6-3 6-2 6-4, but was still constantly reaching for ice vests and water in the blistering heat on Rod Laver Arena. The Serb is out to match Australian Roy Emerson's record of six Australian Open crowns and he looked in ominous form as Chung, ranked 51 in the world, was consistently left to rush around the court to try and respond to his booming ground strokes. Chung did manage one break in the opening set but his own serve was proving vulnerable, giving Djokovic more than enough chances to break. He claimed two early in the second set and another early break in the third to put himself on track for the second round, although he was quick to praise Chung's battling performance after the game

Roger Federer followed that up with an equally one-sided cruise past Nikoloz Basilashvili. A rampaging Federer kicked off his 17th Australian Open campaign with a 6-2 6-1 6-2 demolition of Georgian battler Basilashvili to reach the second round on Monday. The 17-times Grand Slam champion shone under the lights of Rod Laver Arena to wrap up the match in one hour and 12 minutes, putting on a clinic of clean hitting.

Sixth seed Tomas Berdych thrashed India's Yuki Bhambri 7-5 6-1 6-2 and seventh seed Kei Nishikori beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-3 6-3.  No 12 seed Marin Cilic beat Thiemo de Bakker 6-7 7-5 6-2 6-4 and No 14 seed Gilles Simon eliminated Vasek Pospisil with a 6-7 6-3 6-2 6-4. Nick Kyrgios defeated Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-2 7-5 6-2.

Women’s Update

Heather Watson has failed to progress past the first round at the Australian Open after losing her opening match to Timea Babos. The British No 2 served for the match in the second set, but Babos fought back to level and then completed a 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 7-5 win to inflict another early exit on Watson. Watson has only reached the second round of the tournament on one occasion and new coach Judy Murray was unable to break this wretched record in Melbourne.

Serena Williams dispelled any doubts over her fitness with a 6-4 7-5 win over Camila Giorgi in the Australian Open first round. The world No 1 who had spent four months away from the game and barely swung a racquet since the US Open last September, faced the highest-ranked unseeded player at a sweltering Rod Laver Arena. Williams pulled out of her first match at the Hopman Cup in Perth earlier this month due to knee inflammation, but the 34-year-old moved freely during a testing opener against Giorgi and said it gave her no problems.

Williams, who next faces 90th-ranked Taiwanese Hsieh Su-Wei, insisted she had no fitness issues in the game saying “the knee is great. It was an hour and 43 minutes and I didn't feel it at all, I think I served well today. I got broken once, but other than that I was able to stay focused on that part. I have been going non-stop since the London Olympics and, seeing that this is another Olympic year, I kind of wanted to start the year out really fresh and really go at it again as hard as I can. I just needed that time to just recover the best of my ability and get really fit, and really train and get ready for the season”.

Maria Sharapova romped to her own straight sets victory over Japan's Nao Hibino later in the day, meaning a potential quarter-final against Williams remains on the cards. Sharapova, attempting to win her first title at Melbourne Park since 2008, was in blistering form to take the match against Hibino 6-1, 6-3 in 73 minutes on Margaret Court Arena. There were concerns ahead of the clash about her lack of match fitness, after Sharapova pulled out of the Brisbane International with a forearm injury, but she was 3-0 up inside 10 minutes and never looked back.