Top seed Novak Djokovic has set up a second-round Australian Open battle with crowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - the man he beat to win his first major at Melbourne Park eleven years ago.
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Djokovic had little trouble getting past American qualifier Mitchell Krueger 6-3 6-2 6-2 in his round-one match on Tuesday night.
It sets up a rematch of the 2008 Australian Open final, where the Serb won the first of his six titles at Melbourne Park.
"I have tremendous respect for Jo. We are going to face each other again hopefully on this court (Rod Laver Arena) in a few of days," Djokovic said.
Djokovic was knocked out of last year's Australian Open in the fourth round and underwent elbow surgery shortly after the tournament.
He fell to as low as world No.22 in June but returned to world No.1 in September after a stunning back half of the year.
"It's great to be back playing healthy, and feeling good on the court. It took me several months to regain my confidence and comfort level on the court," Djokovic said.
"The last six months have been terrific. I'm very grateful to have experienced this kind of joy."
Success at Melbourne Park would give Djokovic his 15th grand slam title and push him above Pete Sampras on the all-time men's major tally.
While the score said straight sets, Djokovic was forced to sweat against the world No.230 in a third set that went for 52 minutes.
"I didn't really know what to expect," Djokovic said of his first meeting with Krueger, who was playing just his second grand slam match.
"I tried to do some research on him, but it was quite tricky and quite different playing him."
Tsonga, a wildcard at this year's tournament, got past Martin Klizan 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the opening round.
Australian Associated Press
