MELBOURNE, Australia – Rafael Nadal powered into the second round of the Australian Open with a commanding straight-sets win over Germany’s Florian Mayer on Tuesday.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion looked back to his healthy best after an injury-riddled 2016 as he beat the 49th-ranked Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours on Rod Laver Arena.
He will next play Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.
Last year Nadal was dumped out of the Open in the first round by compatriot Fernando Verdasco in a five-set boil over but there was no likelihood of a repeat ambush by Mayer.
“He doesn’t have the typical game so he’s going to the net. He changes a lot with different points,” Nadal said of his German opponent.
“You need to be careful doing every single shot that he is hitting, so for me it is a great victory and I’m very happy to keep having chances to play here in Melbourne.
“Today was a good first round for me. Florian is a tough first player to play against.”
Nadal is bidding to win his second Australian Open after beating Roger Federer for the 2009 crown.
But a left wrist injury plagued the Spanish left-hander after the French Open last year and he missed Wimbledon.
“I was healthy enough to practice the way I wanted to practice, so that’s important for me and I was able to work a lot of things in Majorca and happy to be back,” Nadal said.
“I’ve had a longer period of time here in Australia, it was great experience and I was able to play in Brisbane.”
Nadal took the opening set on his fifth set point with an ace and fought off Mayer to grab the second set.
His trademark never-say-die retrieving behind the baseline was a feature as he fought for every point.
Nadal broke Mayer’s service in the ninth game of the final set with a forehand winner and served out for a straight sets victory.
Meanwhile, world number one Andy Murray was tested and Stan Wawrinka lost his cool as stars struggled on a hot first day.
Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber, the defending women’s champion, both dropped sets on a day which threatened a host of upsets at Melbourne Park.
In the event, fourth seed Simona Halep was the only major casualty as soaring afternoon temperatures gave way to a cool evening at Melbourne Park.
Australia’s often hot-headed Nick Kyrgios was uncharacteristically calm as he thumped Gastao Elias 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, despite a nosebleed which halted him mid-match.
But Wawrinka drew gasps as he smashed a volley straight at a static Martin Klizan deep in the fifth set, en route to a difficult 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win.
“I stopped playing. He could play anywhere, the whole court,” a perplexed Klizan said. “He could play anywhere on the court and he hit me.”
As afternoon temperatures topped 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit), Murray came through a two hours, 47 minutes test against Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
He fared better than Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic, who were both taken to five sets, while Federer was extended 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 by Austria’s Jurgen Melzer.
“Any match is a good match,” said the 35-year-old Federer, who missed the second half of 2016 with a knee injury.
“Even if I would have lost today, it would have been good because I’m back on the court.”
Kerber, defending a Grand Slam title for the first time, laboured past Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in an unconvincing performance.
The German was an early loser at both of her warm-up tournaments and she took time to settle against Tsurenko. But she also started slowly last year, when she had to save a match point against Misaki Doi in the first round.