• Australian Open, Day Two

Federer made to work hard for win over Andreev

Roger Federer combined class and power to beat Igor Andreev © Getty Images

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• Profile: Nikolay Davydenko | Roger Federer | Robin Soderling
• Gallery: Australian Open round one

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Roger Federer did not have things all his own way in his opening match of the Australian Open. The world No.1 dropped the opening set before battling back for a 4-6 6-2 7-6(2) 6-0 victory over Igor Andreev.

Federer dropped the opening set and was forced to save three set points in a tight third set before upping his level in the fourth to book a second-round meeting with either Chile's Juan Ignacio Chela or Romania's Victor Hanescu.

It was not such a struggle for the third seed, Novak Djokovic, who looked comfortable as he eased to a 7-5 6-3 6-2 victory over Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver. The 2008 champion will now face either Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland or Marinko Matosevic of Austria in the second round.

The first major shock in the men's draw happened on Court Two as world No.8 Robin Soderling was sent packing in five sets by Marcel Granollers. The Swede, a finalist at the French Open last year, dropped the first set and this handed belief to his Spanish opponent who moved two sets to the good with some dominant play. Soderling found some form to level the match at two sets all but, despite the backing of a vociferous Swedish contingent, he could not complete the job and closed out the match 6-2 in the fifth.

Robin Soderling crashed out of the first-round with defeat to Spaniard Marcel Granollers © Getty Images

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Nikolay Davydenko has been in imperious form in recent weeks and produced a demolition job on German qualifier Dieter Kindlmann, winning 6-1 6-0 6-3. The Russian was in spiky form after the game, saying: "I am not Paris Hilton. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be like (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer. These guys I never see by breakfast. They stay in the room and take room service. For me it is better go downstairs take breakfast, or dinner to go somewhere - not to be so famous."

Ninth seed Fernando Verdasco was taken to four sets by Carsten Ball. The left handed Spaniard lost the first set on a tie-break before upping his game to win 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 7-5 6-2. He will meet Ivan Sergeyev, who beat Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(8).

French 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fired out a warning to the rest of the draw with an impressive 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Sergei Stakhovsky. No.21 seed Tomas Berdych had a comfortable opening match, seeing off Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-0 6-3 6-3, but it was not so easy for Mikhail Youzhny, who had to save match point to beat Sydney finalist Richard Gasquet 6-7(9) 6-4 7-6(2) 7-6(4) 6-4.

Irish eyes were smiling in Melbourne as Louk Sorensen beat Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-1. Sorensen defied expectations by qualifying, the first Irishman to do so for 25 years, and his four-sets win secured a meeting with giant American John Isner in round two.

"I'm feeling great, it's the biggest achievement of my career so far," he said. "I think it was an advantage to come through the qualifiers because I was used to the courts. The level between the qualies and the main draw, there is not such a big difference. You just need a bit of luck."

Home favourite Lleyton Hewitt delighted the Melbourne crowds as he cruised to victory in straight sets, beating Brazilian Ricardo Hoceva 6-1 6-2 6-3, while America's James Blake limbered up for a second-round clash with US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro by beating Arnaud Clement 7-5 7-5 6-2. Veteran Frenchman Clement kept Blake honest by working hard from the baseline, but the former world No.4 proved the stronger.

"I only got broken once in three sets against a guy who puts so many returns in the court," Blake said. "It's a good feeling. I got a few free points and served at a high percentage for me. I am pretty proud of the work we did on my serve in the off-season."

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