Melbourne, Jan 17: Roger Federer beat Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3, to start his defence of the Australian Open title. The Swiss maestro, in his bid for a record 17th Grand Slam title will take on either Gilles Simon or Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round of the tournament.

Federer, ranked World number two, beat the unseeded Lacko in an emphatic fashion. The Slovakian could last only one hour 24 minutes before going down to a dazzling array of stroke-play from Federer.

Looking to reclaim the world number one title from Rafael Nadal, Federer started his defence of title in a dominant fashion when he broke down the 97th ranked Lukas Lacko in games one and three. Lacko was no match to the Swiss great but he didn't go down without a fight. He fought hard on the third-set, but Federer had the last laugh when he served a volley to break for 5-3 and then served out to seal the match.

At the end of the match, Federer said, "I'm really enjoying myself, playing extremely well at the moment and the last six months have been fantastic. I'm very happy how things are going and I will see how far I can go in the tournament."

Meanwhile Federer's bete noire Nadal, who won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2010, is attempting to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four majors in a row. He will start his Australian Open campaign on Jan 18.

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