Plain sailing for Dimitrov and Raonic in Brisbane

Canada's Milos Raonic hits a return against Slovakia's Aljaz Bedene during their men's singles first round match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane on Dec 31, 2018.. (Photo: AFP/Saeed Khan)

Raonic, the 2016 champion, demolished Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene 6-0, 6-3 while Dimitrov, who won the following year, sailed past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4.

Both men have career-high world rankings of three, but Raonic and Dimitrov have each slipped over the past 12 months and sit at 18 and 19 respectively.

The big-serving Raonic fired down 18 aces in his win over Bedene and won 93 per cent of his first serves in a match that only last 47 minutes.

Dimitrov was also in complete control against 23-year-old Nishioka, the world number 76.

"I felt I was actually hitting the ball quite all right for our first match of the year," he said.

"It was a good day overall. There were a few things that I would like to maybe improve on the next match, but overall I think it's off to a positive start."

Dimitrov was troubled by an ankle injury towards the end of last season and barely played in the last few months of 2018.

But he said he used the time away from the court to re-evaluate his game.

"I just actually felt that in those months I've learned a lot about myself," he said.

"I learned things that I need to do better, things that I could improve off the court.

"So overall I actually felt that they were very successful months off the court."

Men’s first round:

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL6) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-3, 6-4

Milos Raonic (CAN5) bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-0, 6-3

Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 6-3, 6-1

Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)

John Millman (AUS) bt Tennys Sandgren (USA) 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (6/8), 6-0

Women’s first round:

Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) bt Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU) 6-0, 6-2

Karolina Pliskova (CZE5) bt Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Destanee Aiava (AUS) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/2)

Kimberly Birrell (AUS) bt Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)

Donna Vekic (CRO) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 6-1, 6-2

Kiki Bertens (NED) bt Elise Mertens (BEL) 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4

Anett Kontaveit (LAT) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-0, 6-3

Harriet Dart (GBR) bt Priscilla Hon (AUS) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Marie Bouzkova (CZE) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2