Champ opens strong

MELBOURNE, Australia – Anyone who didn’t know Novak Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slam titles last year only had to look at his shoes.

That’s if his emphatic first-round win Tuesday at the Australian Open wasn’t evidence enough.

Djokovic started his Australian Open defense with a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 win over Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, wearing red-white-and-blue shoes adorned with images of his three major trophies and a Serbian flag on the heels.

He gave up an early break but immediately broke back at love as he won the next 17 games, saving a breakpoint in the opening game of the second set.

“It was a great performance for (my) first official match of the 2012 season,” said the top-ranked Djokovic, whose only loss at a Grand Slam last year was in the French Open semifinals.

The 24-year-old Serb has won two Australian titles.

On the women’s side, second-ranked Petra Kvitova and No. 4 Maria Sharapova advanced.

Tuesday

Men’s Singles First Round

Philipp Petzschner, Germany, def. Lukas Rosol, Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-0, 6-2.

David Ferrer (5), Spain, def. Rui Machado, Portugal, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, def. Matteo Viola, Italy, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

Kei Nishikori (24), Japan, def. Stephane Robert, France, 6-1, 7-6 (7), 6-0.

Alex Bogomolov Jr. (32), Russia, def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Richard Gasquet (17), France, def. Andreas Seppi, Italy, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France, def. Xavier Malisse, Belgium, 7-6 (6), retired.

Milos Raonic (23), Canada, def. Filippo Volandri, Italy, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

James Duckworth, Australia, def. Jurgen Zopp, Estonia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Michael Llodra, France, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Tatsuma Ito, Japan, def. Potito Starace, Italy, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Ryan Sweeting, United States, def. Matthias Bachinger, Germany, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Gael Monfils (14), France, def. Marinko Matosevic, Australia, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Juan Ignacio Chela (27), Argentina, def. Michael Russell, United States, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4.

Andrey Golubev, Kazakhstan, def. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Janko Tipsarevic (9), Serbia, def. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia, 5-7, 7-6 (12), 6-3, 6-4.

Pablo Andujar, Spain, def. Igor Kunitsyn, Russia, 6-1, 7-6 (12), 6-0.

Women’s Singles First Round

Petra Kvitova (2), Czech Republic, def. Vera Dushevina, Russia, 6-2, 6-0.

Maria Kirilenko (27), Russia, def. Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia, 6-4, 6-2.

Shahar Peer, Israel, def. Isabella Holland, Australia, 6-2, 6-0.

Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, def. Zhang Shuai, China, 6-3, 6-3.

Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic, def. Evgeniya Rodina, Russia, 6-3, 6-1.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15), Russia, def. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Vania King, United States, def. Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain, def. Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania, 6-1, 7-5.

Sabine Lisicki (14), Germany, def. Stefanie Voegele, Switzerland, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Jelena Dokic, Australia, def. Anna Chakvetadze, Russia, 6-2, 6-1.

Dominika Cibulkova (17), Slovakia, def. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-1.

Greta Arn, Hungary, def. Rebecca Marino, Canada, 6-4, 6-2.

Maria Sharapova (4), Russia, def. Gisela Dulko, Argentina, 6-1, 6-0.

Jamie Hampton, United States, def. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg, 6-1, 6-1.

Kaia Kanepi (25), Estonia, def. Johanna Larsson, Sweden, 6-2, 6-4.

Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Sam Stosur (6), Australia, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Sloane Stephens, United States, def. Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Spain, 6-4, 6-2.

Roberta Vinci (23), Italy, def. Alexandra Cadantu, Romania, 6-0, 6-1.

Sara Errani, Italy, def. Valeria Savinykh, Russia, 6-2, 6-1.

Marion Bartoli (9), France, def. Virginie Razzano, France, 7-5, 6-0.