Australian Open defending champion Novak Djokovic couldn’t have asked for a better way to start his quest for a record fifth Melbourne Park title.

The Serbian second seed’s 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 win over world No.96 Lukas Lacko on Monday night was comfortable enough not to cost Djokovic too much physical or emotional energy.

But he was stretched enough at times to provide him with the sort of competitive tune-up he needed in what was his first official match this year.

Djokovic entered the tournament on a 24-match winning streak, which followed his loss to world No.1 Rafael Nadal in last year’s US Open final.

He was also on a 21-match winning streak at Melbourne Park, having won the Open for the past three years, to go with his breakthrough 2008 triumph.

The Serb is seeking to become the first man in the Open era to win five Australian Open titles.

But, while he was always in control, he wasn’t always at his best early in the match.

With new coach Boris Becker watching on, Djokovic gained an early break to take a 4-1 lead, but Lacko broke back comfortably in the seventh game of the first set.

It seemed to spur the Serb on, as he lifted his aggression in the next game to quickly notch another break, then served out the set.

Lacko made him work even harder for the second set, with no breaks of serve and barely an opportunity throughout.

But Djokovic again asserted his class to dominate the tiebreak.

By then, any sniff of an upset was gone and Djokovic raced through the last set in 23 minutes.

“I hadn’t played an official match for five or six weeks so I was a little rusty on the court in the first two sets,” Djokovic admitted.

It was Lacko’s fourth successive first-round loss in a grand slam event.