A ruthless Rafa Nadal preserved his creaky knees for tougher tests down the road by routing Dominican journeyman Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1 6-1 6-1 to sail into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.
Playing his first competitive match since pulling out of the ATP Tour Finals with knee trouble in November, the world number one showed no signs of early season rust as he tore through the evening match at Rod Laver Arena in one hour and 34 minutes.
The 31-year-old, who lost last year’s final in a five-set classic with long-time rival Roger Federer, brought up three match points with a huge serve and closed out the match on the first when 37-year-old Estrella Burgos parried a return long.
Nadal’s bid for a second Australian Open title and 17th grand slam championship will continue against Argentine Leonardo Mayer.
Elsewhere, home hope Nick Kyrgios launched his campaign with a 6-1 6-2 6-4 demolition of Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva to continue his bright start to the year.
The volatile 17th seed was on his best behaviour and let his racket do the talking as he treated his fans in the Hisense Arena to an impressive opening salvo.
Kyrgios, one of nine Australian men to start in the main draw, is shouldering his nation’s hopes of a first home men’s champion since 1976 and could not have asked for a better start.
He wrapped up the opening two sets in 51 minutes and was never seriously troubled until the third set when the 100th ranked Dutra Silva provided some stiffer resistance.
Kyrgios, who was jeered by the home crowd last year when he lost a second-round match from two sets up against Italian Andreas Seppi, will face Serbia’s Viktor Troicki next.
The 22-year-old warmed up for the Australian Open by winning the Brisbane title – his first on home soil.