Novak Djokovic picks up 100th Australian Open victory in scintillating fashion against a hapless Pedro Martinez

Novak Djokovic proved to the doubters that he is still more than good enough to compete for the biggest prizes in the sport. The 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in an utterly dominant performance in the Australian Open first round.

No one has won more titles in this event than Djokovic, already winning on 10 separate occasions. It will be a hugely ambitious task if he wants to make it 11 in Melbourne and 25 Grand Slams, but if anyone is going to do it, then the hugely experienced and talented Djokovic could.

He had a lot of support on the main show court at Melbourne Park, with Serbian flags being passionately waved around as she showed his quality on the court. He had pulled out of the Adelaide International which was played out just before the major event, meaning that he had very little preparation going into the tournament.

To compound on this, one of his practice sessions ended in just 12 minutes when the 38-year-old cited neck pain and was forced to abandon his expedition on court. This caused some concern heading into his opening match against Martinez, but these proved to be fleeting doubts.

His serving was on another scale. He won 41 of his 44 first serves and dropped just five points on serve in the whole match, racking up 14 aces and not being faced by a single break point.

Any concerns over the form of the Serbian were quickly swept under the rug when he raced into a 3-0 lead. He had a chance to make it a double break advantage but Martinez was quick to snuff out danger to get on the board.

His semi-final run in the One Point Slam had already given him a taste of what competition would be like on Rod Laver Arena. However, it was not doing him much good against the 10-time champion. Djokovic created two set winning points on the Spaniard's serve but was unable to convert them. He wasted no time in getting the first set done and dusted on his serve.

A similar pattern occurred in the second set. Just four points were won against the serve in the opening four games, and they all came in the third one when Djokovic claimed a break advantage. He was running rampant in Melbourne, winning on his opponent's serve once more to make it 5-2 which was followed by a third hold to love in the set. He had only dropped one point on his serve in the entirety of the second set, hitting seven aces and winning all second serve points.

That three game spurt was ended by Martinez at the start of the next set, who was looking to find a pathway back into this match. The obvious route would be finding a break, but Djokovic was imperious on his serve.

After finding himself 2-1 down, he five games on the spin to breeze his way towards victory in ominous fashion for the rest of the competition. His faultless serving continued, with him winning a staggering 10 points on the spin when serving. He dropped his first in the final game of the match, but that did not halt his progress. He got the job done, and will take on qualifier Francesco Maestrelli in the second round.