Novak Djokovic made a lightning-fast start to his bid for a record-extending 10th Australian Open title on Tuesday, when the Serbian cruised past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena.

Playing his first match at Melbourne Park for two years, Djokovic maintained a high level throughout to claim a comfortable win despite an admirable effort from the World No. 75 Carballes Baena. The fourth seed converted five of nine break points to seal a two-hour, two-minute triumph and book a second-round meeting with Hugo Dellien or qualifier Enzo Couacaud.

“I really feel very happy that I’m back in Australia, back here on the court where I had the biggest success in my career,” said Djokovic, who has now won 22 consecutive matches on Rod Laver Arena since 2019. “This court is the most special court in my life, and I couldn’t ask for a better start to the tournament.

“I guess the more you win on a certain court, the more confident and comfortable you feel every next time you step on it. That’s probably one of the reasons. I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of matches on this court, particularly in the night sessions. If I had to choose one court and conditions, it would be night session on Rod Laver Arena, all night long.”

The win extended Djokovic’s winning streak on Australian soil to 35. Should the 35-year-old lift the trophy in Melbourne this fortnight, he will equal Rafael Nadal’s record tally of 22 Grand Slam crowns, while a 10th Melbourne triumph would also see Djokovic return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since last June.

More to follow…

One year after making his first Grand Slam fourth round at the Australian Open, Taylor Fritz made a strong start to his 2023 Melbourne campaign with a 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win against Nikoloz Basilashvili on Tuesday.

Fritz, who also reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last season, fired 32 aces in the victory as he progressed to the second round for the fifth straight year in Melbourne. He won 84 per cent of his first-serve points in the match.

Playing in his first Grand Slam as a Top 10 player, the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals semi-finalist was down an early break before play was suspended to close the roof in John Cain Arena. From 2-4 in the opening set, the eighth-seeded American won four games to take command.

“It gave me a chacce to regroup a little bit,” he said of the delay. “I came out, it’s the first match, first Slam of the year, it’s my first time being a Top 8 seed. I came out a little nervous but kind of regrouped. I felt like maybe closing the roof wasn’t the best for me because I wanted it to be a little bit faster on the court. I felt like it slowed everything down.

“I did a good job regrouping, just relaxing a bit and just playing a lot more solid.”

FOUR. STRAIGHT. ACES.@Taylor_Fritz97 · @wwos · @espn · @wowowtennis · @eurosport · #AusOpen · #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/visGp9koLP

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2023

Fritz again used a late surge to take the second set, ripping through four games for 2-2, but he could not recover from dropping serve in the opening game of set three. He did not face a break point in the fourth, and he ultimately closed out the match with his fifth break of the two hour, 24 minute contest.

After a breakthrough 2022 season in which he won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells — and a title-winning start to the new year with Team USA at the United Cup — Fritz is looking forward to more big moments this season.

“I don’t want to put too many high expectations, but I do expect lot of myself,” he said in his on-court interview. “I’m in a really good spot right now, I’ve been playing really well. I’ve had a great start to the year so I’m looking to have a big week this week.”

The 25-year-old will face either Chun-Hsin Tseng or Aussie wild card Alexei Popyrin on Thursday in the second round.