World No.1 Rafael Nadal has marched into the second round of the Australian Open with a commanding win over Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos.
Nadal, who lost last year’s final at Melbourne Park to Roger Federer, cruised past the veteran world No.79 6-1 6-1 6-1 in just 94 minutes
The Spaniard moved freely on his troublesome knee which restricted his preparations and limited the 16-time Grand Slam champion to one competitive outing in almost three months.
Nadal pulled out of the Brisbane International earlier this month saying his training was slightly behind schedule due to the injury that caused him to withdraw from November’s ATP Finals in London.
But any doubts over his fitness were allayed by his impressive court coverage while his trademark groundstrokes were on song.
“This is a very important beginning for me; it was a good start,” Nadal said.
“I’m very happy to be here as it’s very special for me to be here on Rod Laver Arena.”
The high point of the match for Estrella Burgess came in a marathon sixth game of the second set when the 37-year-old broke Nadal with his sixth break point. That brought a standing ovation from the packed Rod Laver Arena crowd but the rest of the match was one-way traffic.
Nadal will next face Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday after the Argentine overcame Chilean Nicolas Jarry 6-2 7-6(1) 6-3.
7 November 2016
Double Wimbledon champion, double Olympic champion and now world No.1. But what doesn't An... More
19 February 2016
Roberta Vinci appeared on Italian TV and was put to the test - were the grunts she was hea... More
22 August 2017
Finally! After years of watching coaches wander on to court and say nothing particularly i... More
8 June 2016
Transitioning between surfaces can be one of the biggest challenges in the game. Understan... More