Heat gives Djokovic some concerns during opening win

The world No 1, playing his first ranking event of the season, looked sluggish early on in his encounter with Italian Paolo Lorenzi, dropping his second service game to trail 2-1.

But he broke back immediately to level it at 2-2 and then upped the tempo to run through the next 16 games and secure an emphatic 6-2 6-0 6-0 victory.

“It took me a couple of games to find my rhythm but I think I played well after the first set,” he said.

His Italian opponent posed few questions but the searing heat in Melbourne did provide Djokovic with the odd headache.

He said: “I just need a bit more time to get used to them (the conditions) because the last 10 days or so since I arrived in Melbourne it was quite cold and very windy.

“It was around 35 degrees so it took a bit of time to get used to the heat. Still I am quite happy with how I’m handling it physically.”

Djokovic used the lack of genuine competition to experiment, making regular excursions to the net.

“When you’re 3-0 or 4-0 up why not try some other things, some things that are not usual characteristics of your game?” he said.

“I am definitely working on my net game and am trying to approach the short balls as much as I can and take my chances.”

Fifth seed David Ferrer dropped just seven games in a straight-sets win over Portuguese Rui Machado.

Gael Monfils, who is seeded to meet Andy Murray in round four, beat Australian wild card Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-3 and his French compatriot Richard Gasquet overcame Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1.

There were also wins for ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic and Milos Raonic, the 23rd seed tipped by some people as an outsider for the title.

In the night session, Lleyton Hewitt rolled back the years to edge out German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in a titanic struggle.

The match seemed to be going all the way when Hewitt trailed 5-1 in the fourth but he staged a wonderful comeback to thrill the home crowd and move through 7-5 6-4 3-6 7-5.

“I just tried to put pressure on his second serve and managed to turn it around,” he said.

Next up for Hewitt is a meeting with fellow former world No 1 Andy Roddick, who beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-3 6-4 6-1.