Murray made to work in Melbourne

World number one Andy Murray is safely through to the second round of the Australian Open after a straight sets win over Illya Marchenko.

Murray was not at his best against the Ukrainian, who is ranked 95 in the world, and he had to work hard on his way to a 7-5 7-6 6-2 win in two hours 48 minutes.

Despite losing the first game, Murray looked set to wrap up the first set when he moved 5-3 clear only for Marchenko to break back and draw level.

Murray held his nerve to see out the opening set but the errors continued into the second set, allowing Marchenko to take the lead and it was left to the world number one to fight hard to force a tie-break.

Although he was not at his best, Murray won the tie-break and the huge effort appeared to take its toll on Marchenko, who was no match for his opponent in the third set.

Next up for Murray is a second round clash against world number 152 Andrey Rublev, who defeated Yen-Hsun Lu, 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-0) 6-3.

Four-time champion Roger Federer made a successful return to competitive action with a four-set victory over Austria's Jurgen Melzer.

In his first competitive match in six months, Federer saw off the challenge of Melzer 7-5 3-6 6-2 6-2.

It was Melzer who made the brighter start on the Rod Laver Arena, capitalising on Federer's errors to move 4-2 lead but the 17-time Grand Slam winner soon found his rhythm, winning seven of the next eight games to take the first set.

He looked to be crusing towards the second set after moving 3-1 ahead but the errors crept back in and Melzer took full advantage to level the match.

It was to a brief respite, however, as Federer once again took control and he improved as the match progressed to seal victory in just over two hours.

“This year hasn’t been so tough yet – last year was tough,” Federer said. “It was a long road, but I’ve made it. I’m in the draw and it’s a beautiful thing. Any match is a good match, even if I’d lost today, because I’m back on the court.”

Federer will meet American Noah Rubin in the second round.

His compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka was taken the distance by Martin Klizan before completing a 4-6 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4 win.

After losing the first set, Wawrinka fought back to take the next two and it seemed as though it would only be a matter of time before he would book his place in the second round. However, Klizan refused to give up and took the fourth.

The deciding set saw Klizan edge in front but Wawrinka broke back to level the set at 4-4 and from there he put the match to bed.

“It was a big fight tonight. I’m happy to get through. I did not find my best game but I was fighting a lot," he said.

"I always fight; I’m fighting every day on the practice court, fighting to get better. But it was close – he’s a tough player. Really dangerous. He was pushing a lot, mixing a lot.”

Kei Nishikori is also through to the second round but the world number five was made to work very hard for his win as he overcame Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov 5-7 6-1 6-4 6-7 6-2.

The fifth seed came within two points of victory when he raced 5-2 up in the fourth-set tie-break, but Kuznetsov stormed back to take it into a deciding set.

A break in the fourth game of the set put Nishikori in a commanding position and he added a second to seal the victor, but he admits he must improve if he is to go far in the competition.

“I didn't quite play great tennis in the beginning, but especially in the fifth set, I think I was really focused and played good tennis,” said Nishikori. “I’ll try not to play a long match like this again. But the fifth set was pretty good, so I think I'm in good shape for the next round.”

Nishikori will face France's Jeremy Chardy in the second round after Nicolas Almagro was forced to retire when 4-0 down.

Tomas Berdych spent just 32 minutes on court before his first round opponent Luca Vanni retired because of a hip injury. He will face a sterner test next time against Ryan Harrison, who defeated Nicolas Mahut 6-3 6-4 6-2.

There was a shock in the women's draw when number four seed Simona Halep went down 6-3 6-1 to American Shelby Rogers.

The Romanian was one of the pre-tournament favourites but she managed just four games against her American opponent as she slumped a second successive first-round exit.

Speaking after the match, Halep revealed she has been battling a bout of tendinitis.

"Definitely she played well. I think she played a very high standard. I had pain at my knee," she said.

"I tried. I had some anti-inflammatory before the match, and the previous days. But when you have the tension of the match, official match, the pressure, it becomes harder.

"So I had harder pain and I couldn't do what I wanted."

Defending champion Angelique Kerber needed three sets to send Lesia Tsurenko crashing out of the tournament with a 6-2 5-7 6-2 victory.

Kerber had the opportunity to win the match when 5-3 up in the second set but she lost the next three games to allow Tsurenko back into the contest.

The third set went with serve until Kerber broke in the fifth game and a second break in game seven allowed her to serve out for the victory.

“I was actually feeling not bad. From the beginning, I was trying to play my game. I played actually a good match. I was a little bit not playing too good. I make a little bit easy mistakes in the second set, at the end of the second set.

“But she was playing actually not so bad. She played a really consistent match. I was trying just to going for it in the third set and just trying to play my game. I think that was the key for the match today.”

Venus Williams was made to work hard as she overcame Kateryna Kozlova 7-6 7-5, while Garbine Muguruza defeated Marina Erakovic 7-5 6-4 to book her place in the second round.

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