For Novak Djokovic, it was all about nothing. The 20-year-old Serbian star looked refreshed, sharp and hungry again as he beat Benjamin Becker 6-0, 6-2, 7-6 (5) Tuesday in his first-round match at the Australian Open.A drooping Djokovic complained at the Masters Cup in November that he was exhausted after a heavy schedule last year — his 87 matches were more than any other men’s player — and increased demands for his off-court time due to his rapid rise in the rankings.So his brief off-season consisted of. nothing.“I tried not to do anything. That’s a real rest,” said Djokovic, seeded third after coming in at No 16 last year. “I needed really to take it easy.”The results? “Physically I’m ready, and mentally as well,” he said. “I have a lot of motivation to do well this season, especially here in the Australian Open.”Top-ranked Roger Federer showed no lasting effects from a nasty stomach bug, routing Diego Hartfield of Argentina 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 to open his quest of a third consecutive title here.The illness forced Federer to pull out of last week’s exhibition tournament at Kooyong, interrupting his preparations as he seeks to pull within one of Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam championships.On a perfect night for tennis, Federer was often perfect, running off the first nine games and the last seven. He finished off the match with his 11th ace. With 38 winners and just 14 unforced errors — none in the third set — he compiled twice as many points as Hartfield, 84-42.Venus Williams overcame a rash of mistakes to post her first victory here in three years, downing China’s Yan Zi 6-2, 7-5. The tournament experienced its first crowd violence problem as Greece’s Konstantinos Economidis played last year’s losing finalist, seventh-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Tournament officials said play was interrupted for five minutes while police sprayed three people with pepper spray. Five were evicted. Gonzalez won in straight sets.No 10 David Nalbandian recovered from back spasms that forced him out of the Kooyong exhibition to oust Australian Robert Smeets. Former US Open and Wimbledon winner Lleyton Hewitt started his 12th bid to become the first homegrown winner of the national championship since 1976 by downing Steve Darcis of Belgium.No 12 James Blake beat Nicolas Massu, and Marcos Baghdatis, who lost the 2006 final, defeated 2002 champion Thomas Johansson. Marat Safin, who lost the 2002 final but made amends with the title here in 2005, next faces Baghdatis after overcoming Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.Fifth-ranked David Ferrer ousted Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, but No 17 Ivan Ljubicic lost to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.On the women’s side, No 6-seeded Anna Chakvetadze only played six points before Germany’s Andrea Petkovic retired with a leg injury. Also advancing were second-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova, No 4 Ana Ivanovic, No 9 Daniela Hantuchova and No 14 Nadia Petrova. Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, seeded 10th, lost to Sofia Arvidsson.
