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 The evergreen Federer strolled into the second round with a
classy 6-4 6-2 7-5 win over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun before fellow
second seed Sharapova ruined Croatian qualifier Petra Martic's 24th
birthday with a 6-4 6-1 victory.
Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray also enjoyed comfortable wins as three of
the men's 'Big Four' shook out the early-season rust.
Although the retired Li Na is not defending her singles title, the
glowing Chinese stole the spotlight from the players when she
announced she was expecting her first child with husband and former
coach Jiang Shan.
"I think Dennis (Jiang) is doing a good job. He just made one ace,"
said the 32-year-old crowd favorite on the Rod Laver Arena, sparking
cheers from the terraces.
The hole left by the twice grand slam champion's absence is begging
to be filled and a rejuvenated Sharapova, dressed to kill in a smart
red outfit, looked the part in a controlled display against the
outgunned Martic.
Federer joined Sharapova in the winners' circle at the Brisbane
International this month and, on his coach Stefan Edberg's 49th
birthday, the Swiss notched his 1,001st tour win.
 "Winning in the first round, it's always a bit of a relief. I
thought I played good," the 33-year-old told reporters after dashing
around the court like a frantic teenager against the 47th-ranked Lu.
GLORIOUS DAY
While seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard advanced with a straight-sets
victory over 98th-ranked German Anna-Lena Friedsam, half of the 16
women's seeds in action were swept away before the sun had set on a
glorious day.
Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic was the highest-profile casualty, the former
world number one falling in three sets to doubles specialist Lucie
Hradecka of the Czech Republic.
Ninth-seeded German Angelique Kerber blamed a "bad day" at the
office after being dumped out by Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in
three topsy-turvy sets.
Lucie Safarova (16), Carla Suarez Navarro (17) and twice grand slam
champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (27) were also among the eight sent
packing.
It was steadier going on the men's side where an undercooked Nadal
felt the confidence flooding back after thrashing Russian veteran
Mikhail Youzhny.
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Coming back after a long layoff from injury and illness, Nadal
gloomily ruled himself out of title contention before the event but
the Spaniard eased quickly into the grand slam groove with a 6-3 6-2
6-2 win.
"This first match here was tough mentally for me," the 2009 champion
said on center court, resplendent in a pink shirt and a fluorescent
yellow headband.
"I hope this match will give me confidence as I play the next
round."
VERY DIFFICULT
Sixth seed Murray, bidding for a maiden Australian Open title after
three trips to the final, opened up with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (3) win over
Indian qualifier Yuki Bhambri, occasionally berating himself but
pleased overall with his display at the refurbished Margaret Court
Arena.
"The whole match he made it very difficult, he played very
aggressively," Murray said of Bhambri, the lowest-ranked player in
the draw at 317.
"He shouldn't be ranked 300 in the world."
Romania's Simona Halep, seeded third and fancied to break through
for a maiden grand slam title this year, had few worries in a 6-3
6-2 rout of Italian Karin Knapp.
Men's seventh seed Tomas Berdych went through without fuss while
number 10 Grigor Dimitrov, tipped to rock the tennis establishment
after a breakout 2014 season, showed ominous form with a 6-2 6-3 6-2
victory over German Dustin Brown.
(Additional reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by John O'Brien)
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