Rafa rolls past Zverev test

Rafael Nadal has flexed his muscles to continue an imperious start to 2017 to set up a mouth-watering Brisbane International quarter-final with defending champion Milos Raonic.

Nadal delivered a tennis clinic on Thursday night to completely outclass German serve-volleyer Mischa Zverev 6-1 6-1 in just 55 minutes at Pat Rafter Arena.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who has won five matches in the past week in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane, showed he deserved to start among the leading contenders at the Australian Open with his impeccable form.

World No.51 Zverev, whose younger brother Alexander upset Roger Federer in the Hopman Cup, had no answer to Nadal who hit 30 winners to five in the one-sided match.

Zverev had a break point at 1-1 in the third game but from there it was all Nadal as the Spaniard pick off his serve-volley game all too easily.

Nadal was delighted with his display apart from his first serve accuracy of 47 per cent.

“I played a great match,” he said. “(It’s) difficult say something negative, because in general I saw after, on the video screen, like, 30 winners and just a few unforced errors.

“(I’m) returning very well, I think. A lot of great passing shots.”

Nadal insists he needs to improve his serve and also be aggressive on return against Raonic.

“His serve is huge, and he improved a lot from the baseline, too,” he said. “It’s a match that you cannot (make) mistakes if you want to really have any chance.”

Working his way back from knee and wrist injuries, Nadal will find the going much harder on Friday night against the world No.3.

“He had a fantastic year last year and I know tomorrow (Friday) will be a very hard match,” he said. “I know I will have to play my best.”

Raonic, the defending champion, also progressed to the quarter-finals with a straight sets win over Argentine Diego Schwartzman at Pat Rafter Arena.

While currently ranked lower at No.9, Nadal will start favourite following his victory over the Canadian in Abu Dhabi last week.

“This is an amazing feeling,” he said. “To be back on court is special especially when you’ve had injuries and had some hard times.”