Defending champion Roger Federer moved smoothly into his majestic stride with a straight-sets win over Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in his opening match at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Swiss turned the evening clash on packed Rod Laver Arena into an exhibition as he struck 41 winners to breeze past a willing but outclassed Bedene 6-3 6-4 6-3.
The only time Federer looked remotely stumped came during a post-match interview conducted by American comedian Will Ferrell who told him he had played like a "silky gazelle".
"Don't they get eaten in the end?," Federer ventured before being asked whether he was a witch or a vampire and whether his age-defying performances were down to a diet of wombat meat.
"I was a bit scared," Federer joked. "I'm happy I dodged some questions there."
Will Ferrell: "Would you describe your game as a 'silky gazelle'?" @rogerfederer "Maybe... Maybe not. Don't they get eaten at the end?" pic.twitter.com/of2moCWwYO
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2018
While Ferrell provided some unexpected comedy, Federer again proved that when it comes to tennis he is king of the jungle.
Any player hoping to stop him retaining his title and claiming a 20th grand slam will have to be pretty special on this evidence.
Federer looked just as imperious as when he won the last five games to beat Rafa Nadal in last year's thrilling final and end a five-year wait for his 18th major.
Poor Bedene, no mean performer at world number 51, can now at least say he has witnessed Federer's brilliance first hand, having never previously faced him.
Federer's next opponent will be Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday when temperatures in Melbourne are expected to climb to about 40 degrees centigrade.
Novak Djokovic marked his grand slam return with a thoroughly convincing win over Donald Young in the opening round of the Australian Open.
The former world number one was playing his first official match since retiring during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych last summer 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 has remodelled his service action with the help of coaches Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek, shortening the back swing in a bid to protect the elbow, and it held up very well.
Young broke serve to avoid losing the second set to love but overall Djokovic won more than 70 per cent of points on his serve, and the Serbian's returning game was very sharp, too.
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.
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).
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 but 22nd seed Milos Raonic was beaten 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7/4) by Lukas Lacko.
Raonic, a semi-finalist and quarter-finalist in the last two years, was another player coming back from an injury-ravaged 2017 but, unlike Djokovic and Wawrinka, he was unable to find a way through.
Dark horse David Goffin looked to be in trouble at a set and a break down against Matthias Bachinger but recovered to win 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-2 6-4
