Rafael Nadal looked fit and healthy as he powered his way into the second round of the Australian Open with a dominant straight sets win over Germany's Florian Mayer on Tuesday.
The ninth-seed in Melbourne looked back to his best after an injury-disrupted 2016 as he beat the 49th-ranked Mayer 6-3 6-4 6-4 in just over two hours on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal, who is is bidding to win his second Melbourne title after beating Roger Federer for the 2009 crown, took the opening set on his fifth set point with an ace and broke the German to take the second set.
He broke Mayer's service in the ninth game of the final set with a 25th forehand winner and served out for victory in brutal afternoon heat at Melbourne Park.
Nadal's impressive display included 39 winners and he will play former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.
"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."
Second seed Novak Djokovic began his quest for a record-breaking seventh Australian Open title with a comfortable victory over Fernando Verdasco from Spain, 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
The Serb was forced to save five match points to beat left-hander Verdasco at the recent Qatar Open, but he dominated the opening set before taking the next in a tie-breaker before sweeping through the third, extending Verdasco's seven-year losing streak against the defending champion.
Djokovic's impressive performance helped him set up a second round match against either Ivan Dodig or Denis Istomin.
Milos Raonic opened his 2017 campaign with a straight-sets win over German Dustin Brown.
Raonic spent just 93 minutes dishing out a 6-3 6-4 6-2 lesson to Brown to set up a meeting with in-form Apia International Sydney winner Gilles Muller.
Rising German teen star Alexander Zverev looked like he was heading for an early shock exit when he was down a service break early in the fourth set against Robin Haase - only to surge home in five sets.
The 24th-ranked Zverev claimed a 6-2 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-2 win over the 57th-ranked Dutchman. He faces American qualifier Frances Tiafoe in the second round and possibly Nadal after that.
Murray will be ready for Rublev
Andy Murray faces Russian teenager Andrey Rublev in second round of Australian Open
Sixth-ranked Frenchman Gael Monfils eased past Jiri Vesely 6-2 6-3 6-2 as eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem beat defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-3, while Grigor Dimitrov beat Australian hopeful Christopher O'Connell 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-3 and Fabio Fognini raced past Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-3 7-5.
There were also wins for David Goffin, David Ferrer, Roberto Bautista Agut, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet.
Check our game-by-game updates from Andy Murray's second-round match against Andrey Rublev at the 2017 Australian Open by following our blog on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad or our Twitter account @skysportstennis on Wednesday morning.
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