By Chris Oddo | Monday, January 19, 2015
Novak Djokovic continued his run of first-round mastery at the majors with a straight-sets win over Aljaz Bedene on Day 2.
Photo Source: Quinn Rooney/Getty
Novak Djokovic continued his remarkable streak of dominant first-round matches at Grand Slams on Day 2, racing past Aljaz Bedene, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, to book a spot in the second round.
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“For a first-round performance it was pretty good,” said Djokovic. “Hopefully it’s going to be better in the next one.”
The victory marks the 17th consecutive time that Djokovic has won his opening match at a major in straight sets, a streak that dates back four-plus years and 52 sets. Djokovic last dropped a set in his opening-round match at a Slam in 2010, when he had to go five sets to get past compatriot Viktor Troicki at the US Open.
Things started slowly for Djokovic, as he had to save two break points in the fifth game of the first set before he got his feet underneath him and started to squeeze the life out of the qualifier from Slovenia.
Djokovic hit his stride in the second and third sets, encountering only a small hiccup that saw him double-fault in the sixth game of the third set to give Bedene a break point to get back on serve. But three big first serves erased that opportunity, and Djokovic would hold his serve the rest of the way to clinch his 36th consecutive win against a qualifier.
Unfortunately for Bedene, the loss marked the seventh time that he has come up empty at a major in seven appearances.
Djokovic will face either Andrey Kuznetsov or Albert Ramos-Vinolas in round two. Along with Roger Federer, he is bidding to become the first player in the Open Era to claim five Australian Open titles.
Elsewhere on the men’s side on Day 2, defending champion Stan Wawrinka raced past Marsel Ilhan, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, 5th-seeded Kei Nishikori downed Nicolas Almagro, 6-4 7-6(1) 6-2, while 8th-seeded Milos Raonic tagged 30 aces to neutralize Illya Marchenko, 7-6(3) 7-6(3) 6-3.