Djokovic cruised through his Australian Open first-round match earlier today, beating American Donald Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

In his first competitive match since elbow surgery last year, the Serb showed flashes of brilliance and will face Gael Monfils in the second round on Thursday.

But his return to action was overshadowed by reports in the Daily Mail earlier this week which claimed he had made a firebrand speech to the gathered players during an ATP meeting on Friday.

Djokovic is supposed to have asked his fellow players to form a union to represent themselves on issues such as prize money, bringing with him a lawyer to explain the intricacies of unionising./ express.co.uk