Third seed Novak Djokovic raced through his opening assignment at the Australian Open with ease, recording a straight-sets win over Marcel Granollers in just over an-hour-and-a-half.

In the opening day's late match on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic dropped just five games while seeing off his unseeded Spanish opponent 6-1 6-3 6-1.

It was as one-sided as scoreline suggests. The Serbian - whose only grand slam title came in Melbourne three years ago - produced a relentless display of all-court tennis to lay down an early marker in this year's tournament.

Djokovic won the opening five games to turn the first set into a procession and it only briefly became more competitive.

Granollers recovered from an early break to level the second set at 3-3 but Djokovic immediately ended any thoughts of a revival by reeling off the next three games to open a two-set lead.

And the world number three was soon heading off to his ice bath, losing just one further game in clinching the third set.

"Definitely I'm satisfied with the performance today," he said.

"It's my first competitive match (of 2011). I had a couple in the Hopman Cup, but this is different. It's a grand slam and the best-of-five.

"I had around seven, eight days between the Hopman Cup and the start of the Australian Open to get ready. I practised really hard and worked on a couple of things.

"I am just happy with the way I played overall. Now I look forward to the upcoming challenges."

Djokovic's second-round opponent will be Croat Ivan Dodig, who edged out compatriot Ivo Karlovic 6-4 3-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4.

Courtesy:  Sky Sports