Novak Djokovic successfully negotiated the first hurdle in his quest to rewrite the Australian Open record books with an opening round 6-2 6-4 7-5 victory over France's Paul-Henri Mathieu earlier today.
The 25-year-old Serb is attempting to win his third successive Australian Open title, and fourth overall.
No man in the professional era has won three successive Australian titles.
The world number one will now meet Ryan Harrison of the U.S. in the second round at Melbourne Park.
Amongst the ladies, World number 2 Maria Sharapova destroyed fellow Russian Olga Puchkova 6 0 6 0 in just 55 minutes in her tournament opener.
There were also straight sets wins for China's world number six Li Na, 8-time grand slam champion Venus Williams and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
