World number one Novak Djokovic has got his Australian Open defence off to a winning start against Paul-Henri Mathieu.
The Serbian sprayed 27 winners as he cruised to a straight-sets victory over the 31-year-old Frenchman.
Djokovic picked up from where he left off in 2012 by breaking Mathieu at the first attempt.
The five-time Grand Slam champion stroked the ball effortlessly around the court as he built upon that break, before eventually sealing the set 6-2.
Djokovic broke once again in the first game of the second set, but found himself having to defend three break points as Mathieu rallied hard.
After getting back from 0-40, the 25-year-old fired down two aces to deny his opponent a route back into the set.
Mathieu forced Djokovic to serve for a 2-0 lead, but sloppy errors meant that he could not reverse the tide that was sweeping the Serb towards victory.
It was all over with just over 90 minutes on the clock as Djokovic powered to a 7-5 victory in the third set.
Michael Penkman
