Nadal puts Australian Open rivals on notice after thrashing Estrella Burgos

MELBOURNE. KAZINFORM Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal, ranked and seeded No. 1, on Monday commenced his campaign to win the Australian Open, routing Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in 94 minutes and sending a warning to the rest of competition, EFE reports.

Nadal, who in 2017 won both the US Open and the French Open, dominated the match from the very first point, having a 5-0 advantage in all three sets over his rival.

Estrella Burgos managed to hold his serve once in the first set, which 2009 Australian Open champion Nadal sealed in 23 minutes.

In the second set, Nadal lost his serve once in the sixth game after squandering two set points, but he reacted quickly to secure the set on Estrella Burgos' serve.

Nadal, wearing a sleeveless shirt in a Grand Slam for the first time since 2008, continued to dominate the third set, again allowing his rival to hold his serve only once.

This was Nadal's first competitive match after his withdrawal from the 2017 ATP Finals in London due to a right knee injury.

The powerful start to the Australian Open shows he remains a force to be reckoned with, despite this being the first time he arrived in Melbourne without having played a single competitive match in the season.

Physical issues prevented him from taking part in the Brisbane International and an exhibition tournament held in Abu Dhabi.

Nadal is scheduled to face Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, world No. 52, who defeated Chile's Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.

Sixth-seed Marin Cilic of Croatia also advanced to the second round, defeating Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, is set to square off against either Portugal's Joao Sousa or Dustin Brown of Germany.

Local favorite Nick Kyrgios of Australia, the 17th seed, prevailed over Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

This is the first time in three years that Kyrgios has advanced to the second round in the first Grand Slam event of the season.

Fresh off his win at the 2018 Brisbane International, Kyrgios is set to take on Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the second round.

Spain's David Ferrer, a former top-10 player, failed to advance to the second round in a Grand Slam for the second time in a row.

The 35-year-old Ferrer was defeated by Andrey Rublev of Russia 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2.

Ferrer, a 2013 semifinalist, had previously been stunned in the 2017 US Open by Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.