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MELBOURNE - Australia's Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the second round of the Australian Open with an easy 6-0 6-3 6-0 victory over Belgium's Steve Darcis yesterday.
The former world No 1, who had a poor buildup to the year's first grand slam with early exits in Adelaide and Sydney, barely needed to get out of first gear and broke the 23-year-old at will.
Darcis only held serve twice in the match. The only other game he won was when he broke Hewitt's serve in the fifth game of the second set. Hewitt intimidated the Belgian, making his first appearance in the tournament, from the outset on Rod Laver Arena, and forced him into 21 errors, particularly on his backhand.
The Australian did not let out his trademark fist pump and "C'Mon" until the fourth game of the second set, though it was doubtful whether he needed much crowd support to provide the inspiration required to dispatch his 83rd-ranked opponent.
Hewitt next meets the winner of the match between 2005 champion Marat Safin and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
Earlier, third-seed Novak Djokovic turned up the heat on a sweltering day to oust Benjamin Becker 6-0 6-2 7-6.
"I started really well," the 20-year-old said. "Honestly saying, I was nervous before the match, knowing that I'm a big favourite in the first round."
Djokovic oozed confidence in his opener, racing through the first seven games of the match and clinching the opening set in 22 minutes.
Becker, whose claim to fame is that he ended Andre Agassi's career by beating him at the 2006 US Open, had no answers in the second set either and, despite a rally in the third, offered little resistance to the Serb.
Djokovic, seeking his first grand slam title, plays Italian Simone Bolelli in the second round.
"It's natural that you feel the pressure," Djokovic said of the added expectation this year as third seed.
"If you don't feel pressure, something is wrong with you, but it's a matter of how you deal with the pressure.
"I'm trying not to think about that too much, about the expectations, about the people saying, 'you've got enough quality to win a grand slam this year, especially in Australia or the US Open, because of the hard courts'.
"It's very flattering ... but, you know, it kind of puts a lot of pressure on me. I'm only 20 years old, so hopefully, you know, I'm going to have another 10 or 15 years of professional tennis."
Women's second-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova swept past France's Nathalie Dechy 6-3 6-1 in just over an hour as seventh-seeded Venus Williams powered past Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 6-3.
Sixth-seed Anna Chakvetadze was spared the sapping sun when Germany's Andrea Petkovic retired with a knee injury in the first game of their match.
Top seed and world No 1 Roger Federer was due to open his campaign for a third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall late last night under lights against Argentine Diego Hartfield.
Federer is one of three former men's champions on show. The 2002 champion Thomas Johansson is up against Marcos Baghdatis and 2005 winner Marat Safin takes on Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.
- Reuters
