Melbourne: Defending champion Novak Djokovic recovered from a third-set lapse by winning seven of his last eight games Monday to advance to the second round at the Australian Open.
With temperatures hitting 36C (97 Fahrenheit) on a bright, sunny day at Melbourne Park, the 21-year-old Serb took a while settling in before beating Andrea Stoppini of Italy 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
Djokovic recovered a break in the second set and rallied from 4-0 down in the third.
His fellow Serbs had some minor lapses in their first-round wins.
In the match before Djokovic on Rod Laver Arena, top-ranked Jelena Jankovic asked for ice because she felt like the soles of her feet were burning during her 6-1, 6-3 win over Yvonne Meusburger of Austria.
Djokovic lost his first match of the year at Brisbane before getting a wild card for the Sydney International, where he reached the semi-finals last week.
"I had a little slow start in the first two weeks, I didn't play my best tennis," he said. "Today I was very down in the second and third set, and I turned it around. Hopefully I can get going and get a good result here."
Jankovic said she needed time to find their rhythm. No. 3-seeded Dinara Safina wasted little time, the Olympic silver medalist beating fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-4.
"I don't expect myself to step on the court and play perfect tennis from very first moment," said Ivanovic, who was ousted in the third round at Wimbledon and in the second at the US Open. "You just want to give yourself the best possible chance and give time to work yourself into the tournament."
Jankovic, who lost the US Open final to Serena Williams and has yet to win a major title, ripped 27 winners. Her problem was more with the climate than the opponent after two months off.
"Today it was so hot, my feet were really burning," said Jankovic, who is recovering from an illness that caused her to pull out of a Hong Kong tournament. "I knew I had to deal with it."
Federer, bidding to equal Pete Sampras' record 14 major titles, had a night match against Andreas Seppi of Italy.
Roddick next plays Belgium's Xavier Malisse, who earned a 7-6 (8), 6-1, 6-1 win over Michael Llodra of France.
Mardy Fish had a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5, 6-0 win over local wild card-entry Samuel Groth.
Five US men made first-round exits.
Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych, seeded 20th, beat Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Veteran Dominik Hrbaty, who guided Slovakia to a surprise title at the Hopman Cup international mixed team event in Perth earlier this month, beat John Isner in four sets.
Robert Kendrick lost to No. 16 Robin Soderling of Sweden in four sets and Bobby Reynolds went down in straight sets to No. 21 Tommy Robredo of Spain.
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Amer Delic beat Taylor Dent 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American match.
Others advancing on the men's side were No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain, No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia, 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and 16-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic in his Grand Slam debut.
Russia's Evgeny Korolev had an upset win over former No. 1-ranked Carlos Moya of Spain, and will likely face Federer in the second round.
Gilles Muller of Luxembourg overcame No. 27 Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 4-6, 16-14 in a marathon match.
Women's No. 7 Vera Zvonareva of Russia posted a 7-6 (2), 6-0 win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova, and No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat Israel's Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2.
Also advancing were No. 15 Alize Cornet of France, No. 16 and 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France and No. 26 Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
Former fourth-ranked Kimiko Date Krumm, returning to the main draw of a major after a 13-year hiatus and at the age of 38, was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 8-6 by 25th-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
The first seeded player out of the tournament was No. 23 Agnes Szavay of Hungary, who went down 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva.
Reigning junior champion Bernard Tomic proved himself a rising force at the senior level as a first-round victory on Monday made him the youngest male winner of a match at the Australian Open.
The 16-year-old whose controversial father has been in trouble with Tennis Australia for outbursts during matches, showed mature form in his first Grand Slam with a 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) first-round win over 73rd-ranked Italian Potito Starace.
"It's a dream come true to win a first round in my first Grand Slam," said Tomic. "I'm just thrilled that I could pull off a win today.
"With the crowd behind me, it was an unbelievable experience."
Aged 16 years 89 days, Tomic is 94 days younger than fellow Australian Todd Woodbridge was when he beat American John Letts in the opening round at Melbourne Park in 1988.
Tomic recovered from breaks in the third and fourth sets for the spectacular win on a solid opening day for home hopes at Melbourne Park.
"I was happy today and had no nerves going into the match. I was just happy that I could get off to a good start really."
Other Aussie winners included Brydan Klein, who knocked out German Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and Jelena Dokic, who reached the second round over Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
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