Grigor Dimitrov wins opening match at Australian Open

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates his win against Jeremy Chardy of France during their men's singles second round match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, January 7, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

MELBOURNE, Australia - Tenth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov defeated Germany's Dustin Brown 6-2, 6-3, 6 -2 in a 69-minute first-round match Monday at the Australian Open.

Playing on the second show court at Melbourne Park on a sunny but cool opening day, Dimitrov had little difficulty advancing to the second round and a match against either Lukas Lacko of Slovakia or Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina.

Dimitrov, nicknamed "Baby Fed" because of the similarity of his game to Roger Federer's, won titles on three surfaces last year and reached his first major semifinal at Wimbledon, where he beat 2013 champion Andy Murray in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

Last year at Melbourne Park, Dimtrov reached the quarterfinals before losing to Rafael Nadal.