MELBOURNE: Rafa Nadal dispelled any remaining doubts over his fitness with a commanding 6-1 6-4 6-2 win against American qualifier Michael Mmoh yesterday to march into the Australian Open third round and stay on track for a record 21st Grand Slam title.
The second seed did not play a match in Spain’s ATP Cup campaign last week with a back problem and following his opening win in Melbourne he had said the injury was still bothering him.
Nadal showed no sign of discomfort, however, against the 177th-ranked American under the closed roof of the Rod Laver Arena and peppered the blue court with winners from both forehand and backhand sides as Mmoh watched on helplessly.
The 2009 Melbourne Park winner, who is tied with Roger Federer at 20 Grand Slam singles titles, will next meet either Briton Cameron Norrie or Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin.
Daniil Medvedev continued his impressive run of form as he celebrated his 25th birthday with a clinical 6-2 7-5 6-1 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena to reach the third round.
A Greek tragedy threatened to befall Stefanos Tsitsipas before the fifth seed steadied to fend off local wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1 6-7(5) 6-4 and reach the third round.
World number one Ash Barty suffered a meltdown on the brink of victory but regathered herself to fend off local compatriot Daria Gavrilova 6-1 7-6(7).
Barty, who came onto centre court with her left thigh heavily strapped, served for the match at 5-2 but was broken twice in a hail of unforced errors, allowing wildcard Gavrilova to drag the contest deep into a tiebreak.
Reigning champion Sofia Kenin crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round, slumping to a 6-3 6-2 defeat at the hands of world number 65 Kaia Kanepi on Margaret Court Arena.
The 22-year-old, who followed her Grand Slam breakthrough at Melbourne Park last year with a run to the final at the French Open, sprayed 22 unforced errors in the 64-minute contest against the experienced Estonian.
Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina made good use of limited opportunities against American teenager Coco Gauff to reach the third round with a 6-4 6-3 victory. And Karolina Pliskova, seeded sixth, lost serve twice in a see-saw opening set but pulled away in the second to book a place in the third round with a 7-5 6-2 win over American Collins, a 2019 Australian Open semi-finalist.
Meanwhile, Fabio Fognini and Salvatore Caruso had to be separated by the court supervisor after the first all-Italian Australian Open men’s singles match of the open era ended in uproar yesterday.
The compatriots had battled it out over nearly four hours in the John Cain Arena before 16th seed Fognini emerged a 4-6 6-2 2-6 6-3 7-6(12) winner.
The traditional handshake at the net quickly degenerated into a heated argument when Fognini suggested Caruso had been lucky on some points in the match, an observation the Sicilian objected to.
The expletive-filled argument continued by the side of the court until the official stood between the two players as they continued to gesticulate.
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