( CNN ) -- World No . 1 Novak Djokovic began his quest for a fourth title at the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight forward victory over fellow Serbian Victor Troicki . The 25-year-old won three consecutive titles in Dubai between 2009 and 2011 before 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer triumphed last year . Djokovic , who won the first major of the year at the Australian Open in January , is playing in his first ATP Tour event as he looks to maintain his unbeaten start to the season . His victory in Melbourne raised the prospect that Djokovic , who has won five of the last nine grand slam titles , could complete a clean sweep of the majors for the first time since Rod Laver in 1969 . Asked whether he could go on another run like the one at the start of the 2011 season that saw him unbeaten for 43 matches he said in an on-court interview : `` Yes I am definitely am ( on a streak ) . `` But I am not thinking about it or trying to better the one I had in 2011 , because it 's really hard to ask from myself something which may be impossible . `` But knowing that I have done it gives me that mental edge and confidence I need in to approach every tournament with self-belief . '' Djokovic enjoys an impressive record over Troicki , losing just once in their last 13 encounters , and broke his opponent 's first service game to set the tone for the match . Though the world No . 44 put up a better fight in the second set , Djokovic rarely looked in any danger as he wrapped up the match in just over an hour . `` Because I have not played for a while I was extremely focused and committed to starting well , '' Djokovic added . `` I played really , really well in the first set . I read his serve well , and I was aggressive in the court . So altogether I am satisfied with my performance and I hope I can continue . '' Elsewhere , the No . 4 seed Juan Martin del Potro was forced to save three match points during a hard fought 4-6 6-4 7-6 victory over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis . The Argentinean , who won the 14th ATP title of his career in Rotterdam recently , came close to losing the contest at 4-5 in the deciding set but battled back to take it on a tiebreak . He 's a great player , '' del Potro told the ATP Tour 's official website . `` He fights like me every point , and we had fantastic rallies . I 'm so glad to beat him tonight in Dubai . `` I played fantastic forehands to keep playing this match . Then in the end , of course , you need a little bit of luck to win these kinds of matches , and I think I played solid on important points in the third . '' Tomas Berdych , the No . 3 seed , had no such problems as he accounted for American wild card Rajeev Ram 6-1 6-3 in less than an hour . The 27-year-old was runner up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at last week 's Marseille Open , despite having a match point . He made the Dubai semis in 2011 , losing to Djokovic . Nikolay Davydenko edged past the No . 6 seed , Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia . The Russian , who is retiring at the end of this year , triumphed 6-0 7-5 . There were also victories on Thursday for Marcel Granollers , of Spain , Romania 's Victor Hanescu , Tobias Kamke , from Germany and Russia 's Dmitry Tursunov .
World No . 1 Novak Djokovic into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships . Djokovic defeats fellow Serbian Victor Troicki 6 - 1 6 - 4 in just over an hour . The 25-year - old won three consecutive titles in Dubai between 2009 and 2011 . Juan Martín del Potro saves two match points in overtime over Marcos Daniel .