<p>World number one Novak Djokovic's first competitive outing since last month's epic Australian Open final was a much more routine affair as he began the defence of his Dubai Championships title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe on Monday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The last time Djokovic played, he thumped his chest with delight, then trudged wearily off court following his five-hour, 53-minute duel against Rafael Nadal, the longest Grand Slam final ever played.<br /><br />On a calmer day in Dubai that began with Djokovic in the crowd as a spectator watching his 20-year-old brother Marko lose to Kazakh Andrey Golubev, the Serb returned to his more clinical ways against German world number 72 Stebe.<br /><br />Fans waving ‘Glad you're back Novak’ signs were not left disappointed as the five-time Grand Slam champion, chasing a fourth successive Dubai title, showed flashes of the form that has taken him to the summit of the men's game.<br /><br />“I'm happy with the first match after four weeks definitely,” Djokovic told reporters after the match.<br /><br /> “It's really nice stepping out on the court and seeing a full stadium and having a lot of support. I'm very flattered.” The Serb, who chalked up a 70-6 win-loss record in 2011, refused to get carried away by all the hype surrounding him and a possible calendar Grand Slam plus Olympic gold in 2012.<br /><br />“I'm not really comparing 2012 with 2011. I'm not comparing any year with another year,” he said.<br /><br />“The last year was amazing, definitely (the) best year of my career. If you ask me if I can repeat it, I don't know. It's going to be very, very hard obviously.”<br /><br />Some of Djokovic's most likely challengers this year are in action on Tuesday with last-year's runner-up Roger Federer, third-seeded Andy Murray, fourth seed Jo Wilfried-Tsonga and fifth seed Tomas Berdych on court for places in round two.<br /><br />Already through is American eighth seed Mardy Fish, who dispatched German <br />Andreas Beck 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.<br /><br />Sania exits<br /><br />In the WTA Tour event at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, India’s Sania Mirza went down 2-6, 6-1, 4-6 to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the opening round.</p>
<p>World number one Novak Djokovic's first competitive outing since last month's epic Australian Open final was a much more routine affair as he began the defence of his Dubai Championships title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe on Monday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The last time Djokovic played, he thumped his chest with delight, then trudged wearily off court following his five-hour, 53-minute duel against Rafael Nadal, the longest Grand Slam final ever played.<br /><br />On a calmer day in Dubai that began with Djokovic in the crowd as a spectator watching his 20-year-old brother Marko lose to Kazakh Andrey Golubev, the Serb returned to his more clinical ways against German world number 72 Stebe.<br /><br />Fans waving ‘Glad you're back Novak’ signs were not left disappointed as the five-time Grand Slam champion, chasing a fourth successive Dubai title, showed flashes of the form that has taken him to the summit of the men's game.<br /><br />“I'm happy with the first match after four weeks definitely,” Djokovic told reporters after the match.<br /><br /> “It's really nice stepping out on the court and seeing a full stadium and having a lot of support. I'm very flattered.” The Serb, who chalked up a 70-6 win-loss record in 2011, refused to get carried away by all the hype surrounding him and a possible calendar Grand Slam plus Olympic gold in 2012.<br /><br />“I'm not really comparing 2012 with 2011. I'm not comparing any year with another year,” he said.<br /><br />“The last year was amazing, definitely (the) best year of my career. If you ask me if I can repeat it, I don't know. It's going to be very, very hard obviously.”<br /><br />Some of Djokovic's most likely challengers this year are in action on Tuesday with last-year's runner-up Roger Federer, third-seeded Andy Murray, fourth seed Jo Wilfried-Tsonga and fifth seed Tomas Berdych on court for places in round two.<br /><br />Already through is American eighth seed Mardy Fish, who dispatched German <br />Andreas Beck 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.<br /><br />Sania exits<br /><br />In the WTA Tour event at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, India’s Sania Mirza went down 2-6, 6-1, 4-6 to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the opening round.</p>