Dubai, Feb 22 :  Holder Novak Djokovic returned to tennis action three weeks after his Australian Open title with an inspired 6-3, 6-3 over Frenchman Michael Llodra Tuesday at the Dubai Championships.

The second-seeded Serb Djokovic, winner of the last two editions at the Aviation club, was joined in the second round by Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, who defeated Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-0 with six breaks of serve.

The former top-five man Davydenko is in a comeback from a 39th ranking.

German Philipp Kohlschreiber put out sixth seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) and two retirements struck within minutes of each other at the event from which Scot Andy Murray withdrew last week.

Kazak Andrei Golubev earned his first win of 2011 as seventh seed Marcos Baghdatis was unable to go on while trailing 0-4 with influenza.

Spain's 2008 finalist Feliciano Lopez advanced in his opening match as Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun quit trailing 0-5.

Llodra and Djokovic were playing for the third time, with their last meeting at Paris Bercy in November won by Llodra, but this time around Djokovic claimed his 16th Dubai victory in 63 minutes with four aces.

"I did not know how I am going to start the tournament after three weeks of not playing an official match," said the world number three, who stands second at the event behind four-time winner Roger Federer.

"I have to say I am happy with the performance today. I was playing well last couple of days in practise, it was good that I came here five days prior to the first match."

The win carried Djokovic to 8-0 this season after his second career Grand Slam title last month in Melbourne.

Noted serve-and-volley player Llodra gave Djokovic a fresh challenge in their meeting, which the Serb managed to meet easily.

"It is not easy after playing 23 years from the baseline to step into the court and go to the net a little bit. But I am working on that variety in my game, using the serves well, and I did well today," said Djokovic.

Djokovic is working to remain level-headed after his second Australian title triumph in four years as he trails well behind the wake of 16-time Grand Slam winner Federer.

"I do not want to be too happy about the success. Of course it is a great start, a Grand Slam title. It is a big win, a big achievement, but I want to move on and play consistently well all year."

Federer, the top seed, was starting his first appearance in Dubai since 2008 as he played against Indian Somdev Devvarman, who was facing a top-10 opponent for the first time in his 55th ATP match.(DPA)