MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic got his title defense off to a flying start with a straight-sets win in his opening match at the Australian Open on Monday.

The world No. 1 had few worries in disposing of the 60th-ranked Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, winning 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour 42 minutes on a sun-baked Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic is bidding to become the first player in the Open Era to win three consecutive Australian Opens and was in a different league to Mathieu, running through to his 15th straight match win in Melbourne.

The Serb top seed did not drop serve and broke the Frenchman’s service four times in a commanding performance ahead of his next round encounter with American Ryan Harrison.

In a dominant display, the 25-year-old Djokovic won 95 points to Mathieu’s 68 and made a total of 31 winners outnumbering his 15 unforced errors.

Djokovic cleaned up 84 percent of his first service points and was a high 75 percent on his second serve points.

It was Djokovic’s fifth win in six meetings with Mathieu, who was playing in his first Australian Open since 2009 after injury-blighted seasons in 2010 and 2011, and not recovering in time from knee surgery to play in Melbourne last year.

Djokovic is looking to bounce back from his US Open final defeat to Andy Murray in New York last September and is drawn to face the Scot in the semifinals, and possibly 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the final.

Djokovic needed a record 5 hour 53 minutes to overcome Rafael Nadal in last year’s five-set epic Australian Open final, but Nadal is not in Melbourne this time as he recovers from a virus.