Ferrer, Wawrinka untroubled in Melbourne

Top-10 players David Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka had no problems progressing through the Australian Open first round on Monday. Spaniard Ferrer looked set for an easy victory over Alejandro Gonzalez when he raced through the first five games, but was made to fight hard by the grand slam debutant before sealing the 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory in just over two hours. Ferrer lost just seven points en route to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Gonzalez finally found his range. He still lost the set but showed he could match it with the world number three from the back of the court and he recovered from going down an early break in the second to win four straight games and lead 4-2. But the Colombian was unable to make the most of his advantage as Ferrer won four games in a row to take the second set. Both players struggled to hold serve in the third set with five breaks in seven games before Ferrer was finally able to buck the trend and seal victory. He will play Adrian Mannarino in the second round after the Frenchman ousted American wildcard Steve Johnson 3-6 6-3 6-0 5-7 6-4. Eighth seed Wawrinka was on court for just over an hour before opponent Andrey Golubev retired. The Swiss number two won a tight first set 6-4 and was leading 4-1 in the second when Golubev retired due to a leg injury. He plays Alejandro Falla in the second round after the Colombian defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-2 6-3. Russian 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny only needed 109 minutes to dispose of German Jan-Lennard Struff, while in an all-Croatian clash, 32nd seed Ivan Dodig overcame big-serving compatriot Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 7-6 (7-4). Other winners on day one included veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen, American Sam Querrey, German Florian Mayer and Damir Dzumhur, who became the first man from Bosnia to win a grand slam match.