Federer begins Aussie play

MELBOURNE, Australia --Serbian Novak Djokovic, No. 3 in the men's draw, opened play on center court Tuesday against Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Top-ranked Roger Federer, aiming for a third consecutive Australian title and claiming to be 100 percent recovered from a stomach virus that interrupted his preparation, had a night match scheduled against Diego Hartfield of Argentina.

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal, the only player to beat Federer at the last 10 Grand Slams -- in the past two French Open finals -- had to recover from service breaks in each of the first two sets to beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-1 in the late match as temperatures dipped to 61 degrees.

There will be no second round for Andy Murray, who was seeded ninth after winning two weeks ago at Doha, Qatar. He lost 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5) to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Murray, a 20-year-old Scot who carries heavy expectations from Britain, had some advice for No. 16 Carlos Moya and No. 18 Juan Ignacio Chela, who also made first-round exits with him.

"These are the matches you come back from -- you learn a lot from them," Murray said. "I don't think it's the end of the world. I mean, worse things could have happened to me out there."