Rafael Nadal vs Victor Estrella Burgos RECAP: How Nadal recorded comprehensive first win
RAFAEL NADAL reinforcedd his tag of Australian Open 2018 second favourite with a first-round win over Victor Estrella Burgos.
Estrella Burgos had never faced the world No 1 before and at the age of 37, was hardly expected to be at the peak of his powers.
But The Dominican player has been inside the top 50 in the world, reach No 43 as recently as 2015 and his three singles titles have come on clay, bizarrely all at the Ecuador Open, a tournament held at nearly 3,000 metres above sea level in Quito.
Nadal meanwhile, 31, is in perhaps the best form of his life, having returned from injury in 2017 to reach the Australian Open final before claiming the French Open and US Open titles and ending the year as the oldest ever world No 1.
Here's how Express Sport brought you all the action from Melbourne as the two Spanish speakers clashed on Rod Laver Arena with Nadal emerging an impressive winner.
Rafael Nadal vs Victor Estrella Burgos AS IT HAPPENED
(* denotes next to serve)
9.55am: Nadal is also quizzed about uncle Toni, who is back in Mallorca running the academy.
"I spoke to him before the match and he was on court so I hope he was watching!" Nadal adds.
That's that from us. Tomorrow - it's Roger Federer day. We'll see you then!
9.50am: Nadal is keen to address the fact that he hasn't played in Australia yet this year - not competitively anyway.
“Straight after London I had to stop for a while and then start working step by step,” Nadal says on court.
“We wanted to do things the right way to be ready for this season.
“This is a very important beginning for me.
“I want to enjoy every moment I am here.”
RAFAEL NADAL BEATS VICTOR ESTRELLA BURGOS 6-1, 6-1, 6-1
Nadal holds to love and seals a 97-minute win. That was brilliant. Estrella Burgos won in the main draw for the first time last year but doing so again never looked likely. Credit to Nadal, who halts his packing up to applaud his opponent off the court. Genuine warmth between them at the net too which is nice to see - although had the match been less of a demolition it might have been a bit different.
*Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 5-1 Estrella Burgos
When this is over, I'm definitely having a bagel for breakfast. Estrella Burgos seals the game with yet another beautiful volley. You have to think life might have been different if VEB had done more of that.
Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 5-0 Estrella Burgos*
Get the cream cheese out again, Dave because we might finally have that bagel. Nadal is one game away.
*Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 4-0 Estrella Burgos
As my fellow tennis reporter Uche Amako would say, that was naughty from Nadal. Running to grab a ball deep in his backhand wing, he curves a forehand winner into the corner of the court at 40-15 down, and then does the exact same thing at deuce.
VEB then masters his own downfall with a double fault and Nadal is two games from that bagel he's twice nearly had in this match.
Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 3-0 Estrella Burgos*
That's 12 straight points for Nadal. We could be home and hosed inside 90 minutes at this rate.
*Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 2-0 Estrella Burgos
Broken. To love. Unforced error central for VEB.
Nadal 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 Estrella Burgos*
I would not like VEB to get just three games out of this match, or worse two, but it looks half likely at this point. Nadal is imperious on his serve and the groundstrokes are back to their intial high level. That brief blip at the end of the second, and it was brief, is over.
RAFAEL NADAL WINS THE SECOND SET 6-1
Nadal is not to be denied. VEB is battling hard on the baseline, making Nadal play one or even two extra shots in a way that the Spaniard has for so many years to his opponents.
But a break and set point comes when Nadal does play those extra shots and when he jumps all over a second serve at 30-40, it's a 2-0 lead for the world No 1.
Nadal 6-1, 5-1 Estrella Burgos*
What a game!
First a lesser spotted break point for VEB as Nadal leaks a forehand wide to give him the chance - but the Dominican nets another slice backhand and gazes to the heavens ask "why?!". (Well "por que" I believe.)
He gets a second - and third - bite of the cherry as Nadal tries for a little too much too early in the point but he saves them both, only for a stellar passing shot out of the backhand wing to force a fourth. Nadal then spurns two set points and the sixth break point is the crucial one. VEB celebrates like he's won the set!
*Nadal 6-1, 5-0 Estrella Burgos
Fabulous from Nadal, who is presented with a break point opportunity by a brilliant backhand volley. He can't take the first but the second is all his and now he will serve for the bagel.
Nadal 6-1, 4-0 Estrella Burgos*
Everything about Nadal's game is aggressive at this point, driving backhands deep into the court and twice in this game alone finishing the point at the net. It's a love hold and this is swiftly turning into an absolute slaughter.
*Nadal 6-1, 3-0 Estrella Burgos
VEB's problem (I'm going to call him VEB - everyone okay with that?) is that he is just sitting back and trying to battle Nadal from the baseline. That's all well and good, but you have to come in on a short bal when it's there. He doesn't and inside an hour he finds himself a double break down in the second.
Nadal 6-1, 2-0 Estrella Burgos*
Exceptional work from the underdog, somehow getting back a huge forehand and regaining position in the point, only to net a backhand. His legs seemed to buckle under him a little there, as though it were the fifth set and not the second. I hope that he isn't carrying a fitness issue as it would be good to get at least 90 minutes of Nadal here.
The Spaniard has just served his first ace of the match and now has his eighth game - out of nine.
*Nadal 6-1, 1-0 Estrella Burgos
Fabulous from Estrella Burgos, who seems to have warmed up. He comes to the net and shows great hands to flick a lob over Nadal. The Spaniard chase it down but the Dominican can put it away with ease. The older man gives it a huge fist pump but it is not enough to overcome Nadal it would appear - break point soon follows.
Initially, Estrella Burgos seems to have lost the point but Nadal TELLS him to challenge the line call - and it was indeed on the line! Remarkable. But karma rewards Nadal and he breaks for the third time in the match.
RAFAEL NADAL TAKES THE FIRST SET 6-1
Easy as you like. Nadal runs round the backhand and grunts on the strike to bring up two set points. He only needs one though and after just 23 minutes, he has a set lead.
*Nadal 5-1 Estrella Burgos
NO BAGEL! Estrella Burgos finds a couple of first serves and the 15,000 people in Rod Laver Arena give him a generous round of applause. Good for him. Now Nadal will serve for it though.
Nadal 5-0 Estrella Burgos*
15 minutes gone and Nadal is one game away from a bagel to open his tournament...
*Nadal 4-0 Estrella Burgos
Oh dear. If I was 37 and I was 4-0 down to Nadal in the first round of a Grand Slam, I don't think I'd be feeling great about life. Once again he saves the first break point, but nets a sliced backhand at 30-40 and Nadal gets a double break.
Nadal 3-0 Estrella Burgos*
There are a few groans around the world No 79 misses once again but they are more enthused by a Nadal forehand winner, which he follows with an even better one, running miles around the backhand.
From the outside courts by the way, the No 8 seed is OUT. Yuichi Sugita has beaten Jack Sock in four sets to reach the second round of the Australian Open for the first time.
*Nadal 2-0 Estrella Burgos
Court looks quick, so claims Mats Wilander. And he won here three times so he would know. That should favour one Mr Federer, who loves a fast court.
Anyway, in the match at hand, Estrella Burgos tries to whack a high ball at 15-30 in his opening service game but misses by a mile. The Dominican saves the first with a serve but can’t find another and already, Nadal has a break.
Nadal 1-0 Estrella Burgos*
Comfortable love hold for Nadal and the men's No 1 seed is underway at the Australian Open in 2018.
8.05am: Pretty punctual, it turns out. Nadal is wearing his hot pink head band and as he previewed on social media, sleeveless Nadal is back. Ooooh it's like 2009 all over again.
They're warming up now and have been told one minute - remember they get in proper trouble if their warm-up runs over now. New rules and all.
Nadal to serve first...
7.30am: Good. Morning. Bright and early it is and boy is it sunny... in Melbourne. Back in Blighty, it's windy, rainy, dark and just generally apocalyptic.
But there's no apocalypse for British tennis quite yet - with Andy Murray recovering from hip surgery, Kyle Edmund is the only representative in the men's singles and he knocked out No 11 seed Kevin Anderson overnight in a five-set epic in which he twice found himself a set down. Superb stuff from the British No 2, who will face Novak Djokovic's 2017 conqueror Denis Istomin in the second round.
However, that is days away - in literal and tennis terms. Nadal and Estrella Burgos are due on court "not before" 8am UK time. We will today see how punctual the authorities decide they want to be.