TENNIS: Defending champion Novak Djokovic was pushed hard by the unseeded Andrea Stoppini in his opening match at the Australian Open today but ultimately came through 6-2 6-3 7-5.
The 2008 winner made relatively light work of the Italian in the opening set but had to come from a break down in the second and 4-0 down in the third to earn his win in sweltering conditions.
He will now play Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who beat Brazilian Marcos Daniel 6-4 6-4 6-1.
Andy Roddick opened his campaign with a comfortable 6-0 6-2 6-2 victory against qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist.
In hot conditions on Rod Laver Arena, Roddick took just one hour 46 minutes to dispatch the Swede, who never troubled his opponent after losing the opening seven games.
While the American's first serve was a little shaky at times he otherwise dominated and was able to capitalise on Rehnquist's unforced errors to set up a meeting with Belgian Xavier Malisse.
There was also a straight-sets win for eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who saw off Mischa Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-2.
But David Ferrer (11) didn't have things all his own way and needed five sets to beat Germany's Denis Gremelmayr. Likewise, Marin Cilic had a tougher-than-expected battle against Kevin Anderson, but the 19th seed won through in four.
Stanislas Wawrinka (15) and Robin Soderling (16) both progressed in four sets, while 2006 runner-up Marcos Baghdatis is also safely through.
However, Carlos Moya, another former finalist, bowed out in straight sets to Evgeny Korolev.
One seed to bow out was number 27 Feliciano Lopez, who lost an epic encounter 16-14 in the final set to Gilles Muller.
Muller will now play 16-year-old local hero Bernard Tomic, who won three tie-breaks against Potito Starace as he secured a four-set triumph.
IN THE
women's singles, world number one Jelena Jankovic made a strong start with a 6-1 6-3 first-round victory over Austrian Yvonne Meusburger on Rod Laver Arena.
The top seed's build-up to the tournament had been hampered by a bout of flu, which caused her to withdraw from a tournament in Hong Kong and left her struggling in practice earlier in the week in Melbourne.
But despite a lack of proper preparation Jankovic looked solid as she despatched of Meusburger in 70 minutes in her first grand slam as number one in the world.
Jankovic looked comfortable from the start as she stormed into a 5-0 lead and though Meusburger proved a tougher nut to crack in the second set, Jankovic was still able to move swiftly through.
Her fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic secured her passage to the second round with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Germany's Julia Goerges on the Hisense Arena.
The fifth seed, who finished runner-up at Melbourne Park last year, took one hour and 42 minutes to see off her opponent and will next face Alberta Brianti, of Italy.
Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva had to fight hard in the first set against Magdalena Rybarikova but after taking it on a tie-break she swept through the second without dropping a game.
There was also a straight-sets win for dark horse Caroline Wozniacki.
The Danish teenager, some people's outside bet for the title, beat Shahar Peer 6-3 6-2.
There was also a win for Alize Cornet (15).