Australian Open: Rafael Nadal storms into second round

MELBOURNE: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal on Tuesday stormed into the second round of the ongoing Australian Open.

Nadal progressed ahead in the Grand Slam as he defeated Serbia's Laslo Dere 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in the first-round match at the Rod Laver Arena.

World number two Nadal was comprehensive right from the very start and he was seen exhibiting his natural style of play in the first set, and this saw Nadal wrapping up the first set in no time.

Nadal continued his form in the second and third set as well, and in the end, he had no difficulty in wrapping up the match.

Before coming into this match, Nadal had missed few ATP Cup matches due to back soreness, but there was no casual gameplay from Nadal in the first round of the Australian Open as he exhibited no mercy.

Nadal will now be in action in the second-round match on Thursday in the ongoing Australian Open. In 2020's Australian Open, Nadal had managed to reach the finals, but he suffered a loss to world number one Novak Djokovic.

Earlier in the day, Daniel Medvedev also stormed into the second round of the Australian Open as he defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.

On Monday, Dominic Thiem and Djokovic had registered wins in their respective first-round matches of the Australian Open.

Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Naomi Osaka also progressed ahead in the women singles in the ongoing Australian Open.