Novak Djokovic began his Australian Open title defence with a four-set win over Jan-Lennard Struff, while six-time champion Roger Federer claimed a comfortable victory at Melbourne Park. World number two Djokovic overcame a third set wobble to beat Germany’s Struff 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 2-6 6-1.
Djokovic is a seven-time champion in Melbourne and is bidding for his 17th Grand Slam title overall. Swiss Federer earlier breezed past American Steve Johnson 6-3 6-2 6-2. It is the first time that Djokovic has dropped a set in the opening round of the Australian Open since 2006.
However, he saw off a tiring Struff in two hours 20 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with either Japan’s Tatsuma Ito or Indian lucky loser Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
