Melbourne: Stan Wawrinka began the defence of his Australian Open title with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Turkey's Marsel Ilhan on Tuesday.

Wawrinka was barely tested against the No. 100-ranked Ilhan, striking 34 winners and saving the only two break points he faced.

The Swiss player is coming off a breakthrough season that saw him capture his first Grand Slam title, reach a career-high ranking of No. 3 and add the Davis Cup trophy with teammate Roger Federer in November.

Wawrinka also opened this season with the Chennai Open title in his kitty, which he also won last year before his surprising run to the Australian Open championship.

Kei Nishikori returned to Grand Slam action for the first time since his run to the U.S. Open final, beating Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the first round.

The fifth-seeded Nishikori dropped his opening service game but recovered the break quickly and weathered a difficult opening match against Almagro, who reached the quarterfinals in his previous visit to Melbourne Park in 2013.

Nishikori kept his unforced errors to 21 against Almagro, who ripped more winners - 40 to 30, but also made 50 unforced errors.

After a breakthrough season, when he became the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final, Nishikori is determined to go one better and win a major.

Comeback queen Victoria Azarenka wins Australian Open grudge match

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka stormed through her grudge match with American Sloane Stephens on Tuesday to reach the second round at Melbourne Park.

Azarenka, ranked just 44 going into the season-opening Grand Slam after an injury-marred 2014, showed why she is regarded as the most dangerous unseeded player at the tournament as she downed Stephens 6-3, 6-2.

The Belarusian, who controversially defeated Stephens in the 2013 Australian Open semi-final with the help of a lengthy medical timeout, faces a potentially tricky second round encounter with either eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki or American Taylor Townsend.