Rafael Nadal storms into Australian Open second round as Grigor Dimitrov also progresses

WORLD No.1 Rafael Nadal has shown no signs of the injury that kept him out of Brisbane in a comfortable first-round win as third seed Grigor Dimitrov underlined his Australian Open title credentials

Grigor Dimitrov celebrates beating Dennis Novak.

IT WAS a step into the unknown for Rafael Nadal, with doubts aplenty about the world No.1’s fitness heading into his first round clash.

But even Nadal himself must have been impressed with his 6-1 6-1 6-1 rout of Victor Estrella Burgos on Rod Laver Arena, a 37-year-old he had never played before.

And it’s safe to say tour veteran Estrella Burgos will be happy for them to never meet again, even though the pair shared a warm embrace after the good-natured 94-minute hitout.

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After undergoing a considered recovery from that persistent right knee injury, Nadal’s match was his first competitive outing since withdrawing midway through November’s ATP Finals in London.

That injury forced his withdrawal from an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi and the Brisbane International earlier this month, ensuring Nadal would enter the year-opening grand slam in the unfamiliar situation of not having played a lead-up tournament.

But, on the limited evidence of his 2018 debut at least, any doubts about the Spaniard’s fitness should be eased.

Rafael Nadal embraces Victor Estrella Burgos after their first-round match.

Nadal, 31, wore no strapping on his knee, appeared to move freely and combined his trademark power game from the back of the court with deft touches against world No.81 Estrella Burgos, who had next to no answers for the 16-time major winner throughout the night despite the blustery conditions on a packed centre court.

In a marathon sixth game of the second set Estrella Burgos broke Nadal with his sixth break point of the game.

But any hopes of that game being a turning point - or at least a potential question mark over Nadal if the game were to descend into a scrap - were unfounded, as Nadal broke again in the next game to take the set.

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Nadal will next take on Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday after the Argentine defeated Nicolas Jarry 6-2 7-6 (6-1) 6-3 earlier on Monday.

Earlier, immune to a rash of opening-day upsets, Grigor Dimitrov has underlined undeniable Australian Open title credentials with a merciless throttling of Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak.

Seeded third, Dimitrov banished world No.226 Novak in just 98 minutes, triumphing 6-3 6-2 6-1.

Dennis Novak congratulates Grigor Dimitrov.

A potential fourth-round hurdle for Nick Kyrgios, Dimitrov plundered Novak’s defences on Rod Laver Arena with 21 winners and seven aces.

The world No.3 almost toppled Rafael Nadal in last season’s semi-finals and, having coursed so close to glory, covets the ultimate this year.

“Match by match is the way I’m approaching it,” he said. “But I won’t lie.

“It’s been a dream of mine to win a grand slam and it’s something I’d like to do.

“But one step at a time.

“It’s great to be back on this court. It’s an honour.”

The Bulgarian’s untroubled advance came as US Open finalist Kevin Anderson, American 16th seed John Isner and German 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber were sent packing.

Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund toppled 11th seed Anderson in an enthralling 6-7(4-7) 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 battle before Perth’s Matt Ebden nailed Isner 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Kyle Edmund celebrates his first-round win over Kevin Anderson.

Anderson, who reached the final of the 2017 US Open against Nadal, looked impregnable in the first set.

But the Englishman steadily worked his way into the match wearing down the American.

Ranked No.49 in the world, Edmund is the only British man in the singles draw in the absence of injured five-time finalist Andy Murray.

Edmund required treatment on his right shoulder in the fifth set but recovered strongly to earn a crack at Uzbek Denis Istomin, the man who rolled Djokovic in the second round here last year.

Kohlschreiber was upstaged 6-3 2-6 6-0 1-6 6-2 by gifted Japanese left-hander Yoshihito Nishioka.

Gilles Muller, Pablo Carrena Busta and Pablo Cuevas were among the seeds to safely reach the second stage.