Djokovic clicks back into gear at Australian Open on return from injury

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Novak Djokovic returned to grand slam tennis yesterday and immediately looked a potential Australian Open title contender in a straightforward win over Donald Young.

The former world No 1 was playing his first official match since retiring during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych last year with elbow problems that forced him to miss the rest of the season.

When Djokovic pulled out of warm-up tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha because of pain in his right elbow, there were doubts over whether he would be fit enough to play at Melbourne Park, where he shares the record of six titles with Roy Emerson.

The man himself was cautious about his fitness on the eve of the tournament and wore a compression sleeve but there were no signs of rust as he eased to a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory over American Young.

Djokovic, who next faces Gael Monfils, said: “I did have various emotions, mostly good ones: excitement, joy, gratitude for being able to have an opportunity to compete. About three weeks ago, I didn’t know whether I’m going to play Australia or not.

“I did feel nerves and I did feel a bit sceptical whether I’m going to be able to continue playing as well as I have the last couple of weeks in the practice sessions.

“But I thought I controlled it well. I didn’t get carried away by anything, even though a couple of times in the match things could have maybe gone a different way. I just didn’t allow it to happen. It was a very, very solid performance.”

There were even greater doubts over Stan Wawrinka, who has also been sidelined since Wimbledon following knee surgery and only decided on Saturday that he would play in the tournament.

Ninth seed Wawrinka argued neither his game nor his fitness were anywhere near where he would want them to be but he battled well to beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7/2).

Second seed Roger Federer, who won the most remarkable of his 19 grand slam titles in Melbourne last year, began the defence of his crown with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory over Aljaz Bedene, who is representing Slovenia again after nearly three years as a British player.

Milos Raonic, seeded 22, was beaten 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7/4) by Lukas Lacko. Fourth seed Alexander Zverev was tested by Thomas Fabbiano but did not drop a set in a 6-1 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 victory while Tomas Berdych had too much experience for 18-year-old Australian sensation Alex De Minaur, winning 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-1.

On a generally straightforward day for the leading names, there were also wins for Dominic Thiem, David Goffin and Juan Martin del Potro.

AP. Pictures: Getty/ Novak Djokovic, top, cruised to victory in his first match since Wimbledon while Stan Wawrinka was also victorious on his return from long-term injury.