(CNN) -- Roger Federer began the defense of his Australian Open crown with a straight sets victory over Slovakian Lukas Lacko at Melbourne Park on Monday.
The world number two took just an hour and 24 minutes to dispatch Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3 in their first round match on the Rod Laver Arena.
Federer, who beat Britain's Andy Murray in last year's final, is chasing his 17th grand slam title and could not have made a more convincing start.
"I thought I played great," the Swiss maestro told the official Australian Open website.
"I was able to keep on pressing, you know, put him on the back foot ... That it worked was obviously great. But at the end, I'm obviously very happy". CNN
