Rafael Nadal fans probably gave a huge sigh of relief after they watched the world No. 1 ease past Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in the Australian Open first round on Monday.
After withdrawing from Abu Dhabi and Brisbane to delay his start to the 2018 season, there was cause for concern that the Spaniard hadn’t fully recovered from the knee injury that forced him to pull out of the ATP Finals last November (he only played his first match there).
But it’s fair to say that most of those concerns dissipated following a stellar opening win for Nadal on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night.
He next takes on Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.
Here are three things learned from Nadal’s success over Estrella Burgos…
KNEE SEEMS FINE
Against a grinder like Estrella Burgos, Nadal looked comfortable running down balls, showcasing a great all-court game against the Dominican, who barring that one service game in which he broke Nadal while he was serving for the second set, barely troubled the world No. 1.
Reassuring everyone in press, Nadal said after his match when asked how his body was feeling: “Good. If I don’t feel myself ready, I will not be here.”
Asked about the knee specifically, the Mallorcan said: “No problems.”
SWEET SERVING
According to the Australian Open website statistics, Nadal’s average first serve speed was 199km/hr against Estrella Burgos. That is US Open 2010-level serving from the Spaniard. He also landed 73 per cent of his first serves in and won a remarkable 67 per cent of the points on his SECOND serve (77% on his first).
If he serves like that throughout the fortnight, on a fast surface like Melbourne, he could save himself lots of energy and spend less time running on that recently-injured right knee.
HITTING CLEAN
For the most part, and for someone who started his preseason training later than usual to recover his knee, Nadal was hitting the ball clean, firing 28 winners during his 94-minute win. His down-the-line shots were finding the lines nicely and despite his 11 forehand unforced errors, he should be pleased with how his first match in two months unfolded.
THE NUMBERS GAME
Nadal is now 52-11 win-loss at the Australian Open.
He is bidding to become only the sixth player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open after winning the US Open in the previous season.
Nadal is bidding to win his second Australian Open title and become the first man in the Open Era ā and only the third man in history ā to win each of the four Grand Slam titles twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only players to have won each Grand Slam on two or more occasions.
What a lovely embrace at the net between the two competitors ššš@RafaelNadal through to the second round! 6-1 6-1 6-1#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ehPjzCes83
ā #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2018
