Resurgent Rafa mangles Mayer

Rafa Nadal showed there is still plenty of life in his battered body as he cast aside the disappointments of last year to reach the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Florian Mayer on Tuesday.

Easily avoiding the embarrassment of back-to-back first-round exits at Melbourne Park, the 30-year-old Spaniard needed a single break in each set to proceed after a little over two hours in the brutal afternoon sun.

Nadal sealed the victory with a 39th winner, the 25th off his awesome forehand, and raised his arms to accept the salute of the crowd on the court where he won the title in 2009.

"It's never easy in the first round," Nadal said. "There are always a few more nerves at the beginning. The way that he plays is not conventional. It's not easy to read his game.

"So I'm just happy with the way that I played. I played well in all the key points. That's very important for me. For me, it's a great victory."

Seeded ninth after a 2016 season that started with the five-set upset at the hands of Fernando Verdasco at Melbourne Park and was seriously disrupted then curtailed by a wrist injury, Nadal next faces Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

The wrist injury forced him to withdraw from last year's French Open and miss Wimbledon, meaning he failed to reach the quarterfinals of any of the Grand Slams for the first time since 2004.

But after showing he can once again fire on all cylinders, Nadal said he's fit enough to practice the way he wants to.

"My body's good, and that's the key. If the body is not good then everything is more and more difficult," he said.

"After Roland Garros, everything was so difficult. Too many problems with the wrist, but that's all in the past now."

As his great rival Roger Federer remarked recently, a litany of injuries over Nadal's career have forced him to become something of a past master of the comeback.

"It's about getting your confidence back," he said. "It's important. When you're playing and winning matches, then you have things that come automatically."

Nadal was delighted his serve remained rock solid throughout the contest, with Mayer unable to rustle up a single break point.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion was watched by fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya, the former world No 1 who Nadal has brought into his coaching team for this year.

Reuters