PERTH — World No. 3 Roger Federer outplayed Briton Cameron Norrie 6-1, 6-1 to secure a winning start for defending champion Switzerland at the Hopman Cup Sunday.

Gearing up for his Australian Open title defense, Federer overcame three break points in his opening service game before rediscovering his rhythm to race out to a 5-0 lead.

With 18 winners and four aces, Federer wrapped up the opening set in 31 minutes.

Norrie, who had defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets Saturday, struggled to match Federer’s crisp stroke-making.

Federer’s playing partner Belinda Bencic beat Katie Boulter 6-2, 7-6(0) in the women’s contest to clinch Switzerland’s victory in the round-robin stage.

The 37-year-old Federer has won the last two Australian Open titles after taking part in the mixed-teams tournament in Perth.

Last year’s runners-up Germany made a triumphant return when Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber recorded hard-fought victories in their singles matches.

Coming off a title win at the season-ending ATP Finals in London, Zverev countered his 45 unforced errors with 39 winners and eight aces to beat Spanish veteran David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(0).

World No. 2 Kerber beat Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to snap a five-match losing streak against the two-time Grand Slam winner.

Easy for Pavlyuchenkova

Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got off to sizzling start as she beat Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes at the Shenzhen Open Sunday.

The world No. 42 will next face either Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, or a qualifier who has yet to be determined.

Maria Sharapova will also be returning to competitive tennis at the Shenzhen Open with her debut game against Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky Monday.

Murray, Nadal set for bounce-back

Andy Murray aims to kick-start his stalled career in Brisbane this week after an injury-plagued 2018, with Spanish great Rafael Nadal also playing as he tests his troubled knee ahead of the Australian Open.

The season-opening tournament boasts a stellar field with Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov also in contention as they prepare for the first Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park.

It also marks the return of temperamental Nick Kyrgios, the defending champion who has been talking to psychologists and “trying to get on top” of his mental health after another roller-coaster year.

The women’s field includes seven of the world’s top 10 — defending champion Elina Svitolina, US Open winner Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens, Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova, Kiki Bertens, and Daria Kasatkina. — Agencies