Australian Open | Djokovic, Nadal and Serena cruise to second round

Djokovic wrapped up the opening set inside 31 minutes at the Floodlit Rod Laver Arena but Verdasco broke the former world No 1 straightaway in the next, putting the Serb under pressure and forcing the game into a tie-break.

Djokovic won the tie-break and breezed past his opponent in the third set to set up a second round clash with the winner of the match between Ivan Dodig and Denis Istomin.

“It feels like home. It feels like coming to the place where I have an amazing number of incredible memories. When I saw the draw I thought to myself, this is going to be the only match I could focus on,” Djokovic told a news conference.

Meanwhile, former world No 1 Nadal defeated 49th-ranked Mayer in just over two hours and will meet Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis next.

World No 6 Gael Monfils, No 8 Dominic Thiem, No 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, No 15 Grigor Dimitrov and No 18 Richard Gasquet were among the other seeded players to advance to the next round.

In the women’s section, former world No1 Serena Williams began her quest for a 23rd Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic.

Elsewhere, US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, 2016 Australian Open semi-finalist Johanna Konta, No 6 Dominika Cibulkova, former top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, No 14 Elena Vesnina, No 21 Caroline Garcia and No 28 Alize Corne, third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska moved to the next round.