Federer cruises through as Ljubicic crashes out in first round ...

Defending champion Roger Federer romped to 7-5 6-0 6-4 victory over Bjorn Phau on the opening day of the Australian Open to book a place in the second round.

Phau had stormed into a 5-3 first-set advantage but Federer won 10 straight games to quickly claim a 2-0 advantage.

Federer needed three match points to finally see off Phau in the third set after letting the German recover from 3-1 down to level at 3-3.

The world number one will meet Jonas Bjorkman in the second round. The match will be a repeat of their 2006 Wimbledon semi-final which Federer won easily.

Bjorkman came from two sets down to beat France's Olivier Patience in his opening match on Monday.

In another game , Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic crashed out of the Australian Open at the first hurdle on Monday.

Despite producing 28 aces on the Vodafone Arena at Melbourne Park, the big-serving Croat slipped to a 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 6-4 defeat at the hands of Mardy Fish.

Ljubicic, who made the final eight at Melbourne Park in 2006, got off to a good start with a solitary break enough to give him the first set in 41 minutes.

But Fish tightened up his service in a gripping second set, and Croatian Ljubicic could make no inroads, winning just nine points on his opponent's serve while conceding just 12 on his own.

Fish then settled better for the tie-break, squaring the match and wresting the momentum.

The American then gained early breaks of serve - his only breaks of the match - in both the third and fourth to clinch victory.

He completed his triumph in just under three hours to set up a second-round clash with Nicolas Mahut, of France.