DOHA: World No.1 Novak Djokovic polished off fellow Serb Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday.

Making his first appearance at the hardcourt event as he cranks up his Australian Open build-up, Djokovic showed no sign of the illness that sidelined him at last week’s Abu Dhabi exhibition event as he eased through to the second round.

Djokovic ended last year with back-to-back titles and nothing in a 57-minute demolition of Lajovic suggested he will be any less of a force this year.

Lajovic briefly made a match of it in the opening set but was powerless to stop an eight-game streak for the ruthless Djokovic who displayed his trademark clinical precision.

Top seed Djokovic, who will bid for a fifth Australian Open title later this month, faces Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky next.

Ruthless Sharapova

In Brisbane, top seed Maria Sharapova began her 2015 campaign in ruthless fashion as she brushed aside Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the Brisbane International Tuesday.

Sharapova dominated her opponent in every department as she raced through the first set in just 23 minutes.

Shvedova, a qualifier from Kazakhstan, offered more resistance in the second but was no match for the world No.2.

Sharapova had not played a competitive match since the WTA Finals in October. But there were no signs of rust as she cruised into the quarterfinals.

Sharapova broke her opponent five times throughout the match, but had to save two break points on her own serve in the second set.

She said this was important in stopping any chance of a Shvedova comeback.

“She lost the first set in her previous match (against Sabine Lisicki) 6-0 and ended up winning the match in a tough three-set battle, so you never know,” Sharapova said.

“There were moments where I saved a few important break points, which was crucial. That gave me good confidence toward the end of that second set.”

Sharapova will now play the winner of the clash between seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Earlier, third-seeded German Angelique Kerber remained on course for a semifinal showdown against Sharapova when she crushed Russian qualifier Daria Gavrilova in straight sets.

Kerber needed just 90 minutes to see off Brisbane-based Gavrilova 6-3, 7-5.

She will now take on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic.

Defending men’s champion Lleyton Hewitt suffered a shock loss at the hands of big-serving fellow Australian Sam Groth.

Groth blasted 14 aces and won 89 percent of his first serves to overpower Hewitt 6-3, 6-2 in just 58 minutes.

Fifth seed Kevin Anderson was another casualty in the men’s draw, with the South African falling to Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

Seventh seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, a finalist in Brisbane in 2012, cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq.