MELBOURNE, Australia -- A few weeks ago in Doha, Novak Djokovic found himself in a tenacious match with longtime adversary Fernando Verdasco.
Djokovic managed to save five match points and escaped, barely, with a semifinals victory.
"I hope I will not get to the stage where I have to defend match points," Djokovic said in his pre-tournament news conference at the Australian Open.
On a steamy Tuesday night at Melbourne Park, Djokovic's hope came to a handsome fruition. He handled Verdasco with relative ease, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in a first-round match at Rod Laver Arena.
"Of course," Djokovic said in his on-court interview, "when I saw the draw I thought, 'This is going to be the only match I'm going to focus on. I could leave the tournament early.'"
Verdasco, 33, has beaten Djokovic four times over his career, but not for nearly seven years. The second set, however, went a tense 71 minutes.
Djokovic is attempting to win a record seventh Australian Open from an unusual vantage point -- the No. 2 seed. In losing to Andy Murray in the final of the ATP World Tour's 2016 season-ending event, Djokovic also lost his No. 1 ranking.
"It feels like home," Djokovic said of Melbourne. "Feels like coming back to the place where I have an incredible amount of beautiful memories. Every time I land in Melbourne I get to relive those memories."
A year ago, it was Verdasco who sent Rafael Nadal packing here in the first round.
This year, at the age of 30, Nadal finds himself on the cusp of all kinds of history. The biggest of the big-picture items: Later this spring, can he win an unprecedented 10th title at Roland Garros?
The first major step in 2017 was a positive one, with Nadal handling Florian Mayer on Tuesday in the first round, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
"For me, this is a great victory," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "Very happy to keep having chances to play here in Melbourne.
"Body is good, and that's the key."
The 2016 season was a forgettable one for the Spaniard, beginning with a first-round loss here. Later there was an early, injury-induced exit at the French Open and a failure to play at Wimbledon.
After a month of intense work at home in Mallorca, Nadal pronounced his wrist fit in January and won two of three matches in Brisbane before falling to No. 3-ranked Milos Raonic.
The match against the 33-year-old Mayer -- amid sweltering conditions -- was intriguing because the two had met only twice previously, with each winning once.
This time, Mayer couldn't even manage a single break point.
Before the tournament, Nadal was asked if he was finally pain-free after a long rehabilitation program.
"What do you mean pain-free?" he asked.
Was he carrying any injuries, the reporter wanted to know
"I am not injured," Nadal said, smiling. "Pain-free is a long time ago."
Raonic, seeded third in Melbourne, opened with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Dustin Brown on Tuesday. Raonic reached the semifinals in Australia last year and the final at Wimbledon.
No. 11 David Goffin was pushed all the way before beating 19-year-old qualifier Reilly Opelka, making his Grand Slam debut, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Also advancing were No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 18 Richard Gasquet, No. 24 Alexander Zverev, No. 25 Gilles Simon and No. 32 Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.