Melbourne, January 17: Defending champion Roger Federer comfortably cruised into the second round of the men's singles after defeating Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene in straight sets at the Australian Open. The 19-time Grand Slam champion, who had an upper hand in the game from the beginning, and left no stone unturned in defeating the world No 51 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Federer won three consecutive service games to love, which kept the pressure mounting on his Slovenian opponent, and subsequently took the opening set in 26 minutes.

While Bedene rallied in the second set, the Swiss maestro got an early break in the third, which got him on track for a straight-sets victory in a span of an hour and 39 minutes.

Meanwhile, former world number one and Serbian tennis maestro Novak Djokovic celebrated his long-awaited return to the grand slam with a thrilling 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Donald Young, earlier in the day.

In the women's singles, Russian tennis star and five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova defeated Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-4 in the opening match of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Germany's Angelique Kerber also made a winning start as she swept aside her fellow countryman Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-0, 6-4 in the first round.  On a related note, Federer will face Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.