Top seed Djokovic wins 1st-round match at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic of Serbia makes backhand return to Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday. AP

MELBOURNE — Novak Djokovic began his quest for a fifth Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in a first-round match Tuesday.

Djokovic, who said he had flu symptoms on the weekend, showed no apparent signs of illness in dominating the 116th-ranked Bedene.

Djokovic won his first major at the Australian Open in 2008 and then for three years in a row from 2011 to 2013. He was beaten in the quarterfinals last year by eventual champion Stan Warwinka, ending a streak of 14 consecutive semifinal appearances in majors and a 25-match winning streak in Melbourne.

Bedene received treatment at the end of the third game of the third set for an apparent right hip injury.

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