Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios march into second round at Australian Open tennis
Rafael Nadal wasted little time in racing into the second round at the Australian Open tennis, beating Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.
tennis Updated: Jan 15, 2018 16:41 IST
A ruthless Rafael 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 tennis tournament 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.
(Read | Australian Open tennis: India’s Yuki Bhambri loses to Marcos Baghdatis in first round)
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.
"I love this sport. I love tennis. I love the competition. I know one day that I will not have the opportunity to play in this arena [Rod Laver Arena] so I want to enjoy every moment."
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2018
- @RafaelNadal #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/uZVVGu9fV4
Nadal’s bid for a second Australian Open title and 17th grand slam championship will continue against Argentine Leonardo Mayer.
Kyrgios eases to quickfire victory
Australia’s big hope Nick Kyrgios toyed with opponent Rogerio Dutra Silva to storm into the second round, collecting a code violation along the way.
(Read | Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens crash out of Australian Open tennis)
The 17th seeded Kyrgios was on autopilot throughout as he disposed of the 100th-ranked Brazilian 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in 87 minutes.
Love is in the air it seems in the @NickKyrgios camp...
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2018
The Aussie No.1 kicking goals on and off the court ❤️#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/UWUZK0V2RW
He played a flawless opening set but that didn’t stop him from receiving a code violation early in the match.
Kyrgios was serving for a 4-1 lead when he told a member of the crowd to keep quiet during his service motion in colourful language that did not go down well with chair umpire.
(Read | US Open champ Sloane Stephens out, Jelena Ostapenko into 2nd round at Australian Open)
Kyrgios and the umpire exchanged words during the changeover after the Australian had taken the opening set for the loss of one game in just 28 minutes.
“All you have to do is say ‘please be quiet when the player is serving’,” Kyrgios told the umpire.
“If you did it the first time, he wouldn’t have done it the second time, correct? Correct? “
The Brazilian stopped a losing run of seven straight games to get on the board in the second set to a roar from the festive crowd.
But Kyrgios swept through the second set in just 23 minutes and again broke the Brazilian in the seventh game of the final set to close out the match.