Tuesday 20 January 2015 07:19, UK
Stan Wawrinka got his Australian Open title defence off to a flying start with a straight-sets win over Turkey's Marsel Ilhan in Melbourne.
Though struggling to land his first serve, the fourth seed, who upset Rafael Nadal to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title last year, barely broke a sweat against the Turkish battler on a steamy day, blasting 34 winners to wrap up the match 6-1 6-4 6-2 in less than one and a half hours on Rod Laver Arena.
Wawrinka raised a gasp from the crowd when he took a tumble on the court stretching for a volley late in the first set, but was untroubled thereafter and sealed the one-sided contest with a cross-court volley.
It was great to be back on Rod Laver Arena again, it brings back so many memories from last year. It was such an amazing two weeks so it was great to come back here and I am pleased with my game in general and I'm excited to start again.
Big-serving Wawrinka has now not lost in the first round in 10 appearances at the tournament.
"The first Grand Slam of the year is never easy, but I'm happy with the way I played today," he said.
"It was great to be back on Rod Laver Arena again, it brings back so many memories from last year. It was such an amazing two weeks so it was great to come back here and I am pleased with my game in general and I'm excited to start again.
"I feel great to come onto the court. I played some good tennis and I have confidence with my game in general.
"I feel that I have a lot of support here and it's always nice to come back like that and to feel the crowd behind you."
The 29-year-old Swiss ace will play the winner of Romanian qualifier Marius Copil and Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the next round.
Meanwhile, US Open finalist Kei Nishikori stormed into the second round with a 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 demolition of hard-hitting Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.
The fifth-seeded Japanese trailblazer, rated a strong contender after a breakout 2014, broke Almagro six times and sealed the match with a big serve in just over two hours.
His victory avenged his loss to the Spaniard in the quarter-finals of his home tournament in Tokyo in 2013.
"Nicolas serves a lot of aces and I knew it was going to be a tough first round," Nishikori said.
"It was especially so in the second set and it was really tight with a lot of breaks, but it was a good tiebreak and I finished well in the third set."
Almagro, fighting back from left foot surgery which curtailed the latter half of last season, troubled Nishikori early with his strong serving and powerful single-handed backhand.
But after winning the pivotal second set tiebreaker the match swung decisively Nishikori's way to wrap up the final set in 26 minutes.
Nishikori, who reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne three years ago, will play the winner of Brazil's Joao Souza and Croatian Ivan Dodig next.
