Novak Djokovic eases past Aljaz Bedene

Novak Djokovic has booked his place in the Australian Open second round with a comfortable triumph over Aljaz Bedene.

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The world number one, who is searching for his fifth title in Melbourne, started slowly before emerging as a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victor on the Rod Laver Arena.

Since the start of the year, Djokovic has been suffering with a virus and during the opening stages against Bedene, the 27-year-old struggled to find any sort of rhythm.

However, after breaking through in the seventh game of the set, it was one-way traffic for the Serbian who quickly raced into a commanding lead.

Bedene, who is hoping to switch allegiances from Slovenia to Great Britain later in 2015, improved during the third but a lapse in concentration midway through the set was enough to allow Djokovic the chance to coast through to victory.

Djokovic will now play either Andrey Kuznetsov or Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the last 64.