Djokovic wins

Novak Djokovic may have cursed the draw for throwing up Fernando Verdasco as the first opponent in his Australian Open defence on Tuesday but the tough match-up against the Spanish giant-killer ultimately proved a blessing in disguise.

The Serb launched his bid for a record seventh title at Melbourne Park with an impressive 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2 win over the man who knocked Rafa Nadal out in the first round of last year’s tournament. lieved to snap her backward sliding run at the Australian Open on Tuesday. After tweeting a picture of herself with Obama with the message “Thank you Mr President!... I’ll miss playing tennis with you at the White House”, the former world number one was relieved that she finally bucked a worrying trend at the Australian Open.

“My trend has been semis, quarters, fourth, third, second, first round, and then, according to my trend, I should have been in the third-round quallies (this year),” the bubbly Dane, whose ranking has slipped to 20th, quipped on Tuesday following her 6-1, 6-2 first-round rout of local hope Arina Rodionova.