Djokovic brushes aside Bedene in straight sets

The world No 1 and top seed won 6-3 6-2 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena to begin his bid for a fifth victory down under.
Despite losing all three sets, the Slovenian Bedene offered glimpses of talent that Britain’s Davis Cup team may benefit from if his application for citizenship is approved. After keeping pace with Djokovic for most of the opening set, he was blown away in the second and third.
The first seven matches went with serve as Bedene offered significant resistance to the mighty Serb, smashing three consecutive aces to continue the impressive form that saw him compete in the Chennai final recently, where he lost to reigning Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic’s first set was tied up in lacklustre fashion – world No 116 Bedene handed him a break by missing a forehand shot before ending the set with a disappointing effort into the net.
“For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I’m still developing my game.”
Sensing vulnerability, Djokovic raced through the second set in just 27 minutes and broke 116th ranked Bedene in the fifth game of the third set.
The Serb, who has shaken off illness to compete at his 11th Melbourne Park event, will meet Andrey Kuznetsov or Albert Ramos-Vinolas next.
“For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I’m still developing my game,” Djokovic said.
“Hopefully, it’s going to be better in the next one, but credit to Bedene for playing well today.
“I’ve seen him play only once before and on centre court he had nothing to lose and he has a very quick service motion so it was difficult to read his serve.