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.
India's Yuki Bhambri bows out
Top-ranked Indian men's singles player Yuki Bhambri bowed out of the tournament as early as in the first round after losing to former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets.
After running the veteran campaigner close in the first set, which went to the tie-breaker, Bhambri went downhill with an erratic display of tennis to lose the match 6-7, 4-6, 3-6.
Notably, Bhambri has not gone past the first round at the season's first Grand Slam as he has exited the tournament similarly in 2015 and 2016.
Denis Shapovalov dazzles on Melbourne debut
Denis Shapovalov dazzled in pink as he claimed a debut victory over Greek newcomer Stefanos Tsitsipas in a battle of the teenagers on Monday.
The 18-year-old Canadian, whose rise to 50th in the ATP rankings in the past 12 months has been meteoric, won 6-1 6-3 7-6(5) against the 19-year-old he also beat on his way to claiming the Wimbledon junior title in 2016.
Grigor Dimitrov schools Austrian Novak
Grigor Dimitrov looked every inch the potential grand slam champion as he schooled qualifier Dennis Novak 6-3 6-2 6-1 to reach the second round.
The Bulgarian third seed, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park last year, barely got out of first gear as he displayed his considerable range of skills to oust his Austrian opponent in just 98 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Edmund out-guns Anderson for first-round shock
Britain's Kyle Edmund outfought Kevin Anderson in a court three marathon to send the 11th seed tumbling out of the Australian Open 6-7(4) 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the first round on Monday.
Flying the Union Flag alone in the men's draw in the absence of injured compatriot Andy Murray, Edmund conjured up the best result of his career the hard way.
