Djokovic moves on
<p>Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark makes a forehand return to Anastasia Rodionova of Australia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)</p>
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Anyone who didn't know Novak Djokovic won three of the four Grand Slam titles last year only had to look at his shoes.
That's if his emphatic first-round win Tuesday at the Australian Open wasn't evidence enough.
Djokovic started his Australian Open defense with a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 win over Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, wearing a pair of red-white-and-blue shoes with images of his three major trophies on the sides and a Serbian flag on the heels.
He gave up an early break but immediately broke back at love as he won the next 17 games, saving a breakpoint in the opening game of the second set.
"It was a great performance for (my) first official match of the 2012 season," said the top-ranked Djokovic, whose only lost at a Grand Slam tournament last year was in the French Open semifinals.
The 24-year-old Serb has won two Australian titles - including his first major in 2008 - and his game is well suited to the pace of the hard court. But he struggled at times with the heat at Melbourne Park before his breakthrough season last year and didn't always look comfortable against Lorenzi as the temperature hit 90 degree in the first set.
It didn't stop him entertaining his fans, though. He played a shot between his legs, with his back to the net, to set up a breakpoint chance in the fourth game of the third set which brought the crowd to its feet.
On the women's side, second-ranked Petra Kvitova and No. 4 Maria Sharapova advanced with lopsided wins.
After surrendering her opening service game with a double-fault, Wimbledon champion Kvitova won 12 consecutive games in a 6-2, 6-0 win over Russia's Vera Dushevina.
Sharapova, a former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, won the first eight games of a 6-0, 6-1 win over Gisela Dulko of Argentina in her first match since returning from an left ankle injury.
The 2008 champion needed just 58 minutes for the win and the only game she lost was on her own serve. She then saved three breakpoints in the last game before serving out the match.
Other women advancing included No. 27 Maria Kirilenko, who beat Australian hope Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 6-2, Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak, Shahar Peer of Israel and 2000 Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic.
Men's No. 5 seed David Ferrer advanced in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, over Rui Machado of Portugal. No. 24 Kei Nishikori of Japan and No. 32 Alex Bogomolov Jr., now representing Russia, also advanced. Germany's Philipp Petzschner routed Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 to advance.
Serena Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam winner, will play a night match today against Tamira Paszek.
Rafael Nadal, who lost his No. 1 ranking and six finals to Djokovic last year, wondered if he'd even be able to play his first-round match at the Australian Open on Monday after his right knee cracked and cramped and caused him "unbelievable pain" on the eve of the tournament.
After hours of medical tests and treatment, Nadal decided to play but was "scared" when he took the court against American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov. Judging by the scoreline, the outcome looked very matter of fact: Nadal won 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters and French Open winner Li Na, who lost to Clijsters in last year's Australian final, also advanced on Monday along with top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.