Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic gave early notice of their intention to halt the ‘Rafa Slam’ with impressive first-round wins at the Australian Open today.
Rafael Nadal's quest to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slam titles simultaneously has captured the imagination but Federer and Djokovic will again offer the greatest challenge.
The Swiss and the Serb were in imperious form today, Federer cruising past Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3 and Djokovic cruising to a 6-1 6-3 6-1 win over Marcel Granollers in a match which finished after midnight local time.
Record 16-time grand slam winner Federer was delighted with his display.
‘I thought I played great,’ he said afterwards. ‘I thought it was a good match. I don't think he played too bad himself. I saw some talent in him and that's why I was really happy I chose the tactic early on to pressure him.
‘That it worked was great and I'm obviously very happy.’
Next up for Federer is Frenchman Gilles Simon, who has won both their previous two meetings.
‘That doesn't affect my preparation,’ Federer insisted. ‘Maybe I will look just a bit more into what has worked and what has not worked against him in the past.
‘I have to remember the good things I did, because both matches we did play against each other were close.’
Djokovic was arguably even better than Federer in the final match of the day on Rod Laver Arena.
He claimed the Granollers serve seven times and never let the Spaniard settle.
‘Definitely I'm satisfied with the performance today,’ he said. ‘It's my first competitive match (of 2011). I had a couple in the Hopman Cup, but this is different. It's a grand slam and the best-of-five.
‘I had around seven, eight days between the Hopman Cup and the start of the Australian Open to get ready. I practised really hard and worked on a couple of things.
‘I am just happy with the way I played overall. Now I look forward to the upcoming challenges.’
Eighth seed Andy Roddick enjoyed an equally emphatic start, beating Jan Hajek 6-1 6-2 6-2, while Gael Monfils staged an astonishing recovery from two sets and 5-2 down to overcome Holland's Thiemo De Bakker.
De Bakker looked poised to complete the best win of his career at a grand slam when he served for the match at 5-3 but the moment got to him on the Hisense Arena which allowed Monfils to storm back.
The 12th-seeded Frenchman broke again to claim the set before running through the fourth and fifth to clinch a 6-7 (5/7) 2-6 7-5 6-2 6-1 triumph.
‘I just tried to make him struggle and make him earn the win,’ Monfils said afterwards.
‘I think he got tight and then started to struggle physically.
‘And when you find the solution you have to dive on it.’
Mardy Fish was another seed to hit back from a seemingly desperate position, the American overcoming Victor Hanescu 2-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-3.
Juan Monaco, the 26th seed, made untroubled progress into round two despite a late change of opponent.
Frenchman Julien Benneteau had to withdraw at the last moment due to an infected finger, handing lucky loser Simon Greul an unexpected opportunity.
The German could not profit from it, however, as Argentinian Monaco won 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.
Two possible challengers, Tomas Berdych and Fernando Verdasco, advanced late in the day.
Berdych, last year's Wimbledon runner-up, saw off Marco Crugnola 6-4 6-0 6-2 and Verdasco had little trouble in easing past German veteran Rainer Schuttler 6-1 6-3 6-2.
There were two notable upsets early on day one with 18th seed Sam Querrey and 23rd seed Nikolay Davydenko both going out.
Querrey fell in a marathon five-set contest against Lukasz Kubot while former world number three Davydenko was ousted by Florian Mayer 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4.
