Australian Open 2012 live stream

Novak Djokovic may not be the sexy pick to win his second Australian Open title, but by the look of his clinical 7 5 6 3 6 2 victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver on Tuesday, he’s certainly in contention.

bet365 is live streaming all Australian Open 2010 games - Go to bet365 > Live Streaming > Tennis to watch a live stream

The smooth and swift Serbian looked a whole lot happier than he was here last year, when he was clearly stressing in his first Grand Slam title defense. After a rigorous off-season of workouts, Djokovic looked fast, a bit more powerful and more secure in his ever-evolving game.

“It's the first match of the year so it was a little bit slower start, but I think that I had across the net an opponent who played exceptionally well today,” 2008 champion Djokovic said.

“Conditions were a little bit strange, because it was really slow. It was hard to make a winner. He's a very fast player. He was going for the shots and didn't have anything to lose. He had a very high percentage of the first serves. I was struggling in the first set. That's no secret. In the end I picked it up, and I was really happy overall with how I handled things.”

The Serbian had a difficult year at the Grand Slams in 2009, reaching only one semi-final at the US Open. In his title defense at Melbourne, he was forced to retire with heat cramps against Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals. Clearly, he was out of sorts.

“During the Australian Open last year, I had a lot of mental barriers. First time I had the role of defending champion on a Grand Slam. So it was really difficult to cope with the pressure and expectations that I had. It was a different feel that I ever experienced before. And I changed the racquet and I was struggling to find an exact racquet that I'm comfortable with. There was a lot of stories, should I have changed it or not? Obviously it all had an impact on my results. But this year I feel that I can do better on Grand Slams.”

Djokovic has been working hard with his new part-time coach, American Todd Martin, on stepping further inside the court and taking it to players rather than just relying on his steely defense.

He’s become a much better volleyer and is making better use of his forehand to go along with his stinging two-handed backhand. The third seed appears prepared to negotiate the rough waters of the draw.

“The question is if you want to be tested early on or you want to go easy and smoothly past the rounds, past the opponents, and save the energy for second week,” he said.

“It's really hard to say. Both ways are good, I guess. For me to get a little bit more time on the court today was actually positive. So physically, I'm ready. I'm moving well, and more or less game wise overall I think I'm playing good enough tennis to challenge the best players in the world.”

With the dominance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since 2005, the number of substantial favorites on the men’s side has been slim. But this year, it appears there are at least seven men with serious title shots. Djokovic is one of them.

“I think this is one of the most exciting Grand Slams in the last five or six years because you have a group of players that are able to lift the trophy in two weeks,” he said.

“Next, of course two big favorites, Federer and Nadal. I think Murray, del Potro, Roddick, and myself. Davydenko plays exceptionally well lately. Gonna be interesting for the fans and for the sport to see who will win it in the end.”