Novak Djokovic eases into third round in Melbourne

Novak Djokovic was pleased to have continued his untroubled progress through to the third round of the Australian Open today.

The world number one and defending champion backed up his first-round defeat of Paolo Lorenzi with a 6-3 6-2 6-1 win over Colombian Santiago Giraldo.

Djokovic dropped his serve early on but that proved the only blip as he cruised through to a clash with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

The Serbian did not play a warm-up event but has looked solid so far in Melbourne and admitted afterwards he was delighted to have kept plenty back for the challenges which lie ahead.

He said: "Especially in the opening rounds you are trying to get the rhythm to play well in every match.

"You can't underestimate any opponent and Santiago is a tricky player. It was really important to win the first set.

"I am trying to be physically fit and fresh for the upcoming rounds. The longer the tournament goes, the tougher it gets."

Also winning through today was sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a 7-5 6-4 6-4 victor over Brazil's Ricardo Mello.

The Frenchman was a runner-up here in 2008 and semi-finalist two years ago, and he admitted he enjoys playing in Melbourne.

"The conditions here are good for me," he said. "And it's pretty warm. The surface also, it's not really quick so maybe it's good for my game."

Ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic overcame losing the first set to see off Australian wild card James Duckworth 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7/5) 6-4, while fifth seed David Ferrer was pushed even further before eventually dismissing Ryan Sweeting 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-3.

Milos Raonic beat Philipp Petzschner 6-4 5-7 6-2 7-5, Mahut beat Tatsuma Ito 1-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 6-2 while Michael Llodra could be Andy Murray's third-round opponent following his five-set win over Alex Bogomolov.

PA