Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic cruises into second round

THE Boris Becker-Novak Djokovic partnership gets off to a solid start with the defending champion winning comfortably.

Novak Djokovic was clinical in defeating Slovakia's Lukas Lacko. Picture: Getty

THE intriguing partnership of Boris Becker and Novak Djokovic has started without a hitch thanks to a clinical opening round performance from the defending champion.

Djokovic, who last month lured Becker into the coaching ranks, was pushed at different stages by Slovakia's Lukas Lacko before steamrolling through the third set to win 6-3 7-6 (2)6-1.

The No.2 seed, who has won the past three Australian Open titles, is on a 22-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.

Last night's victory was also Djokovic's 25th straight as he ended last season by winning four titles.

He shocked the tennis world when he announced that Becker, a legend of the sport, was his new mentor.

Djokovic admitted having the German superstar in his courtside box was going to take some getting used to.

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"It felt different but in a positive way," he said. "We speak half English, half German. When we need to speak about serious, serious stuff, we turn to English.

"My knowledge of the German language needs to be updated for the serious stuff.

"But he has accepted my kind request to speak to me in German as much as he can because I would like to refresh my knowledge. I used to speak it."

Despite only having worked together for a short time, Djokovic was confident the results would come straight away.

"We both hope to get the right benefits and the right results right away here in Australia," he said. "We worked very hard during the last four weeks. We believe that hard work will pay off, as it was the case in the past.

"He definitely has great observations on my game, on tennis in general. We do speak a lot about different things. We try to get to know each other as much as we can and the understanding is great in the beginning. News_Image_File: Novak Djokovic and Lukas Lacko shakes hands after their match. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

"Boris has won so many Grand Slam tournaments, was No. 1 of the world. He knows exactly the way I feel, what I need to face, what sort of challenges I need to overcome during the tough moments, the tough matches.

"That's also where he can give the right and positive input. We'll see. It's just the beginning but it's all going in the right direction.

"This tournament right now is our priority and our focus, you know, to do well here. Then we hope to maintain that consistency with a success and good co-operation throughout the whole year."

Djokovic admitted to being "rusty" in his return to Rod Laver Arena with the second set alone taking 57 minutes.

"It is my first competitive match this season," he said. "I haven't played an official match for 5-6 weeks so I was a bit rusty on the court.

"I was struggling to find the right positioning but in the third it all started to work well."

The Serbian now plays Argentinian Leonardo Mayer in the second round.

Djokovic, who last month lured Becker into the coaching ranks, was pushed at different stages by Slovakia's Lukas Lacko before steamrolling through the third set to win 6-3 7-6 (2) 6-1.

The No. 2 seed, who has won the past three Australian Open titles, is on a 22-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.

The victory was also Djkovic's 25th straight as he ended last season by winning four titles.

The Serbian superstar shocked the tennis world when he announced that Becker, a legend of the sport, was his new mentor.

Djokovic admitted to being "rusty" in his return to Rod Laver Arena with the second set alone taking 57 minutes.

"It is my first competitive match this season," he said. "I haven't played an official match for 5-6 weeks so I was a bit rusty on the court.

"I was struggling to find the right positioning but in the third it all started to work well."

Djokovic now plays Argentine's Leonardo Mayer in the second round.