World number one Rafael Nadal cruised into the Australian Open second round with a straightforward victory over Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in Melbourne.
Nadal, champion in Melbourne in , dropped just five games in a 6-2 6-3 6-0 win over his nd-ranked opponent.
The Spaniard, runner-up last year, is bidding to equal Roger Federer’s record of 24 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
He will play either Federico Delbonis of Argentina or Portugal’s Joao Sousa next.
Nadal has reached the Australian Open final five times but won it only once , beating
Federer in a five-set epic (years ago) .
He dropped serve twice against Dellien but barely looked troubled, hitting 137 winners to his opponent’s
“For me personally it has been a very positive start,” the 36 – year-old said.
“What you want is to win in the first round and, if you can do it in straight sets, even better. “
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev came through a first-round match against American Frances Tiafoe, winning 6-3 4-6 6- 4 6-2 in two hours 105 minutes.
Russian Medvedev, beaten in five sets by Nadal in last year US Open final, said: “Many moments in the match, I felt like I had got the momentum and straight away he was coming back.
“For the first round, it’s a big win and I’m really happy.”
- Konta & Edmund out in first round Teen Sinner wins & impresses Federer Pliskova through; Sharapova out
‘I move like a giraffe sometimes’ – Kyrgios
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Nick Kyrgios’ best performance at the Australian Open was reaching the quarter-finals in Australian
(Nick Kyrgios) (entertained a packed Melbourne Arena as the rd seed beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-1).Kyrgios pledged before the tournament
to donate (Australian dollars) () (£ ; $ 200) for each ace he hits to the bushfire appeal and he hit 19 during his victo ry.
Former world number one John McEnroe told Kyrgios on court afterwards that he would donate A $ 1, for each set Kyrgios won during the rest of the tournament.
Kyrgios has been criticized in the past for his on-court behavior but he said
the bushfires that have devastated large parts of Australia had given him perspective on his game.
“Why am I really getting mad on the tennis court with everything going on?” he said.
“Every match I’ve played this year, I’ve been pretty good. It’s probably because of everything going on.”
The – year-old dedicated his victory to Australian men’s number one Alex de Minaur, who withdrew before the tournament with an abdominal injury.
Kyrgios slipped during his match but told McEnroe it was nothing serious , adding: “I move like a giraffe sometimes. I’m pretty dramatic sometimes – but you know all about that.”
‘You’re pathetic’ – Fognini & Opelka clash with umpire
Fabio Fognini smashed his racquet during the match and also confronted the umpire Italian th seed Fabio Fognini
fought back from a two-set deficit to beat American Reilly Opelka in a bad-tempered match.Opelka, who had previously been given a code violation for time-wasting, shouted at the umpire when he felt Fognini should have been been penalized for the same thing.
Fognini had earlier sworn at the umpire in Italian and broken a racquet.
After Fognini threw his racquet, Opelka approached Carlos Bernardes and said: “Let me ask you something, real quick. You’re pathetic.
“You give me one warning after one throw. He’s thrown his three or four times, bro. “
Opelka had led Fognini overnight after rain delayed their match, but was ultimately beaten 3-6 6-7 ( 3-7) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
“You don’t want to engage with a guy like that, “Opelka said of Fognini after the match.
” You want to keep him out of the match as much as possible. It’s definitely not a positive thing. “
Reilly Opelka swore at umpire Carlos Bernardes during his first-round loss to Fabio Fognini There were also wins on Tuesday for Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem , Germany’s seventh seed Alexander Zverev
, Spain’s ninth seedRoberto Bautista Agut and Argentine th seed Diego SchwartzmanZverev, who beat Marco Cecchinato 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, said in his on-court interview that he would donate A $ , 12 for every match win to the bushfire appeal – and, should he win the tourname nt, he would donate all his prize money.
Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in, progressed in four sets, while former finalist Marin Cilic and semi-finalist Milos Raonic won in straight sets.However , promising (th seed) Felix Auger-Aliassime was beaten by veteran Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
The 23 -year-old Canadian lost 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to the former world number 15, who has fallen to in the rankings after struggles with his form.
Russian (th seed) Karen Khachanov fought back from a set down to advance, while Russian th seed Andrey Rublev, who has won two titles this year, also progressed.
There was disappointment for former world number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had to retire from his match against – year-old Australian
(Alexei Popyrin) with a back injury.“It is a painful one – he was my hero as a kid,” Popyrin said of – year-old Tsonga.
“When he made the final here [in 2008] I was in my living room jumping around like a crazy kid. “
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