Former champion Rafa Nadal showed no signs of discomfort from his thigh strain as he sailed through to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-3 7-5 win over local hope James Duckworth on Monday.
The second-seeded Spaniard had pulled out of the Brisbane warmup with a thigh strain to raise doubts about his campaign but he allayed those fears on Rod Laver Arena against an error-prone opponent.
"It's normal that beginnings are tough, but every day helps and every day makes me feel better, makes me feel more confident," Nadal, whose 2018 season ended early with ankle surgery and an abdominal injury, told reporters.
"So that's an important victory because (it) is the first victory since a while and at the same time... gives me the chance to be on court again. And that's what I need."
The first meeting between the 17-times Grand Slam champion, a winner at Melbourne Park in 2009, and Australian wildcard Duckworth, who is ranked 238 in the world, always had the potential to be an uneven contest.
But the 26-year-old Duckworth, who reached a career-high ranking of 82 in April, 2015, did not help his cause by looking to attack Nadal from the start and committing 40 unforced errors in the process, compared to just 11 from his opponent.
Nadal, who is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era, and only the third man ever, to win each of the four Grand Slams twice, ran his opponent down with his superior court coverage and ability to hit winners under pressure.
"I played against a super-aggressive player. Today he went on court with the determination to not play tennis the way I understand tennis," Nadal told reporters.
"(It) is not a negative point. Not at all. Believe me. He went on court probably doing a thing that works well for him, and he gives himself some chances. And he played smart and he played well."
Roger Federer set up a second round meeting with Briton Dan Evans after easing to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win over Denis Istomin.
The two-time defending champion took less than two hours to cruise to a routine victory in which he did not face a break point.
In his 20th Australian Open Championship, the Swiss superstar booked his place in round two in less than two hours.
United States number one John Isner was sent crashing out of the first round of the competition by compatriot Reilly Opelka 7-6(4) 7-6(6) 6-7(4) 7-6(5) in a battle of two of the game's tallest players.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Isner fell at the first hurdle at Melbourne Park for the second year in a row, having been beaten by unseeded Australian Matthew Ebden in a major shock last year.
The 21-year-old Opelka, an inch taller than the 6ft-10in Isner (2.08m), broke the ninth seed's perfect 9-0 winning record against Americans at the Grand Slams in a match featuring 87 aces.
Isner, 33, was crestfallen to be booking an early flight out of Australia but said he would work through the disappointment.
"You keep working and put your head down and kind of disappear once I leave here and just work," he told reporters.
"And, you know, trust that that's going to pay dividends for me in the future."
Opelka will play 102nd ranked Italian journeyman Thomas Fabbiano for a place in the third round.
Fifth seed Kevin Anderson, who has been a grand slam finalist twice in the last five tournaments, avoided a second successive first-round exit here, beating Adrian Mannarino 6-3 5-7 6-2 6-1.
