Djokovic wins opener

MELBOURNE, Australia—Same Grand Slam, same court, same result.
Only the year was different for Novak Djokovic—and the length of time he needed on the bright blue hard surface at Rod Laver Arena.

The Australian Open defending champ took his first step toward winning his third-consecutive title at Melbourne Park—and fourth overall—with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu of France today.
The match lasted one hour, 42 minutes—more than four hours faster than when the Serbian star was last on centre court, his victory in last year’s final over Rafael Nadal in a five-hour, 53-minute marathon.
The win ran Djokovic’s winning streak at Melbourne to 15 matches and his overall win-loss record to 33-5.
It’s no wonder Djokovic calls the Australian Open—site of his first of five Grand Slams in 2008—his favourite major.
“It’s great to be back in Australia playing on this court,” Djokovic said.
On an opening day when Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams also easily won their first-round matches, Djokovic took his first step to becoming the first man to win three-consecutive Australian Open titles in the Open era.
“Any achievement, especially if it’s part of history, would mean a lot to me,” Djokovic said.
“I love this sport,” he added. “This sport has been my life since I was four years old.”
Canadian Milos Raonic, the No. 13 seed from Thornhill, Ont., was scheduled to play his opening match tomorrow against Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic.
Second-seeded Roger Federer and No. 3 Andy Murray, the two main threats to Djokovic with Rafael Nadal not playing due to a virus, also play their first-round matches tomorrow.
Sharapova, meanwhile, finished her first match of the year in 55 minutes, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Olga Puchkova to start proceedings on centre court without showing any signs of trouble with her sore right collarbone.
The No. 2-ranked Sharapova, who lost the final to Victoria Azarenka here last year before going on to win the French Open, faced only two break points in the match and she saved both of those in the first game with aces.
Sharapova has a potential third-round match against Venus Williams, who needed just an hour for her opening 6-1, 6-0 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.
No. 3-ranked Serena Williams is in the top half of the draw with defending champion Azarenka, and the pair won’t start until tomorrow.