Spaniard Rafael Nadal progressed to the second round of the Australian Open as he eased past Germany's Florian Mayer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday. Third seed Milos Raonic has also reached the second round. In the women's singles, Serena Williams, Karolina Pliskova, Dominika Cibulkova and Johanna Konta won their respective first round matches to book their next round berth as well.
Also read: Day 2 schedule of Australian Open
Nadal, who was knocked out in the first round in the Australian Open last season, showed some fine form against his German opponent. There was an air of confidence in some of the shots that he played from the baseline, and he looked quite comfortable at the net too, which will do his confidence world of good as he prepares to face some big names in the Australian Open.
Nadal got some good crowd support, since he is one of the favourite players on the circuit. Nadal spoke about his fitness after the match, which he needs to maintain if he wants to go all the way in the competition.
Like Nadal, Raonic also looked in his zone against Dustin Brown in the first round of the Australian Open. The Canadian clinched the match, as expected, in straight sets, 6-3 6-4 6-2 with an impressive showing from all around the court.
However, it was not all cruise for Belgium's David Goffin, who was taken the full distance by American Reilly Opelka. It was a roller coaster game, which could have gone either way, but Goffin's fine performance in the final set led him to the second round.
In the women's singles, Serena defeated Belinda Bencic, who was completely outplayed by the American in all departments of the game. She clinched the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Pliskova also was in a beast-like mode as she showed her skills from the baseline as well as the net to walk into the next round, defeating Sara Tormo, who lost 2-6, 0-6.
Konta, on the other hand, also reached the second round, but she was severely tested by Kirsten Flipkens in the first set. The German finally won the match 7-5, 6-2. In another first round match, Dominika Cibulkova defeated Denisa Allertova.
