Fourth seed David Ferrer proved too strong for Olivier Rochus on the opening day of the Australian Open, securing a straight-sets victory with a relentless baseline assault.

Rochus tried to slug it out with the fearsome Spaniard but was made to pay the price as he was broken in only his second service game.

Ferrer followed up to take a 4-1 lead but the Belgian responded, playing the seed at his own game to reduce the deficit to a single game with an inspired break.

The Spaniard regained his composure to take the opening set, but Rochus continued to stay intense in a topsy-turvy second.

Despite battling back from a bad start to level at three games all, Rochus once again wilted at the crucial stage to fall two sets behind.

Ferrer kept his foot on the accelerator to close out match in efficient style with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win, setting up a potential second-round clash with Ivo Karlovic.