Federer stays classy in 1st-round victory

MELBOURNE, Australia —Defending Australian Open champion Roger Federer just picked up where he left off, beating Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday, his first match on Rod Laver Arena since clinching a career-reviving title in Melbourne last year.

The 19-time major tournament champion has been met on court after previous wins by tennis greats Laver, John McEnroe and Jim Courier.

On Tuesday night, he got something different. Comedian Will Ferrell stepped out of the crowd and, slipping into character as Ron Burgundy from the movie “Anchorman,” conducted the post-match interview.

As usual, the 36-year-old Federer stayed classy.

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic tweaked his service motion while recovering from an injured right elbow, and used it to good effect in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Donald Young.

Djokovic lost in the second round last year but won five of the previous six Australian Open titles. This time, he has four-time champion Andre Agassi in his corner.

“Obviously I wanted to start with the right intensity, which I have,” Djokovic said. “I played perfect tennis, like I never stopped.”

Stan Wawrinka, who had been out six months after surgery on his left knee, beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2).

No. 13 Sam Querrey got a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Feliciano Lopez.

Madison Keys reversed a trend, becoming the only one of the four American women who contested the U.S. Open semifinals four months ago to reach the second round in Australia.

The 17th-seeded Keys, the U.S. Open runner-up, advanced with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Wang Qiang and will be one of four American women who made it through the opening two days.

Top-ranked Simona Halep ended a run of backto-back first-round exits in Melbourne by beating teenage wild-card entry Destanee Aiava 7-6 (5), 6-1, setting up a match against 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard.