MELBOURNE, Jan 17: Champion Novak Djokovic made a triumphant return to the venue that kick-started his remarkable 2011 as the former joker of the courts emphatically demonstrated he was not prepared to cede his Australian Open crown without a fight.

Djokovic’s victory in Melbourne last year sparked a remarkable season in which he won three Grand Slam titles and compiled a 70-6 record as he finally overhauled Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer as the world No 1.

On Tuesday, in baking hot conditions similar to those that had tripped the 2008 champion up in his first Melbourne Park title defence, the Serb produced an emphatic 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 victory over Italian journeyman Paolo Lorenzi in 92 minutes.

Djokovic’s fellow US Open champion, Australia’s Sam Stosur, wilted in the pressure cooker environment on Rod Laver Arena in front of local fans holding heightened expectations as she crashed to a 7-6, 6-3 loss to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Sixth seed Stosur became the biggest casualty of the first round.

Local fans, however, did have something to cheer about when Lleyton Hewitt rattled off six successive games and come back from a 5-1 fourth set deficit to beat Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and advance to the second round.

Hewitt blew a two-set lead and failed to capitalise on Stebe requiring virtually constant treatment on his left calf muscle before he clinched victory in three hours, 58 minutes.

Women’s title contenders Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova both had lopsided wins in the afternoon heat.

World No 2 Kvitova and fourth seed Sharapova were unruffled by the hot conditions with Kvitova’s ruthlessly efficient 6-2, 6-0 victory over Vera Dushevina taking a tick over one hour.

Sharapova was as merciless on Hisense Arena, beating Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-0, 6-1 in 58 minutes.

Five-time champion Serena Williams, who did not start her match until 2330 local (1230 GMT) after Hewitt’s marathon match, struggled to get going against Tamira Paszek of Austria before she won 6-3, 6-2 in 79 minutes.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding): Men’s singles: First round: 19-Viktor Troicki (Serbia) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (Germany) 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5; 6-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) bt Denis Istomin (Uzbekistan) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5; 12-Gilles Simon (France) bt Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; Julien Benneteau (France) bt Karol Beck (Slovakia) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5; Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-4, 6-3, 6-0; Matthew Ebden (Australia) bt Joao Souza (Brazil) 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; 15-Andy Roddick (US) bt Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Frederico Gil (Portugal) bt Ivan Dodig (Croatia) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1, 4-1 – Dodig retired; Nicolas Mahut (France) bt 29-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 7-5, 7-5, 6-3; Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3; Ricardo Mello (Brazil) bt Roberto Bautista (Spain) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5; 26-Marcel Granollers (Spain) bt Jesse Levine (US) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 5-7, 6-3; 4-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Ryan Harrison (US) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Pablo Andujar (Spain) bt Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-1, 7-6 (14-12), 6-0; 9-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) bt Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 5-7, 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4; 14-Gael Monfils (France) bt Marinko Matosevic (Australia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3; Andrey Golubev (Kazakhstan) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; 27-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Michael Russell (US) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4; Ryan Sweeting (US) bt Matthias Bachinger (Germany) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; Tatsuma Ito (Japan) bt Potito Starace (Italy) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Michael Llodra (France) bt Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; James Duckworth (Australia) bt Juergen Zopp (Estonia) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 23-Milos Raonic (Canada) bt Filippo Volandri (Italy) 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Paolo Lorenzi (Italy) 6-2, 6-0, 6-0; Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) bt Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 7-6 (8-6) – Malisse retired; 17-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Andreas Seppi (Italy) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; 32-Alex Bogomolov Jr (Russia) bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spain) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; 24-Kei Nishikori (Japan) bt Stephane Robert (France) 6-1, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0; Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) bt Matteo Viola (Italy) 6-4, 6-2, 6-1; 5-David Ferrer (Spain) bt Rui Machado (Portugal) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Philipp Petzschner (Germany) bt Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) 6-0, 6-0, 6-2.

Women’s singles: First round: 12-Serena Williams (US) bt Tamira Paszek (Austria) 6-3, 6-2; 21-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) 6-0, 6-3; Zheng Jie (China) bt Madison Keys (US) 6-2, 6-1; Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Czech Republic) bt Iryna Bremond (France) 6-0, 6-4; 29-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Andrea Hlavackova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; 30-Angelique Kerber (Germany) bt Bojana Bobusic (Australia) 6-1, 6-3; 18-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Chanelle Scheepers (South Africa) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Urszula Radwanska (Poland) bt Alison Riske (US) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Stephanie Dubois (Canada) bt Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4; Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) bt Kristina Barrois (Germany) 6-3, 7-6 (15-13); Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-0, 2-6, 6-0; 7-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; 9-Marion Bartoli (France) bt Virginie Razzano (France) 7-5, 6-0; Sloane Stephens (US) bt Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spain) 6-4, 6-2; Sorana Cirstea (Romania) bt 6-Samantha Stosur (Australia) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3; Sara Errani (Italy) bt Valeria Savinykh (Russia) 6-2, 6-1; 23-Roberta Vinci (Italy) bt Alexandra Cadantu (Romania) 6-0, 6-1; 25-Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) bt Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-2, 6-4; Jamie Hampton (US) bt Mandy Minella (Luxembourg) 6-1, 6-1; 4-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-0, 6-1; Jelena Dokic (Australia) bt Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 6-2, 6-1; 17-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) 6-3, 6-1; Greta Arn (Hungary) bt Rebecca Marino (Canada) 6-4, 6-2; 14-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) bt Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) bt Irina Begu (Romania) 6-1, 7-5; 15-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1; 27-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Australia) 6-4, 6-2; Vania King (US) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) bt Zhang Shuai (China) 6-3, 6-3; Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) bt Evgeniya Rodina (Russia) 6-3, 6-1; 2-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) bt Vera Dushevina (Russia) 6-2, 6-0; Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Isabella Holland (Australia) 6-2, 6-0.—Reuters