Australian Open 2021: Rafael Nadal cruise into the second round with win over Laslo Djere; Djokovic also swats aside Chardy

Rafael Nadal enjoyed an easy ride in victory over Serb Laslo Djere whom he defeated in straight sets on Tuesday to progress to the second round at Australian Open 2021 as he takes his first step in his quest for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title.

Nadal, showing few signs of rust, won 6-3 6-4 6-1 against Laslo Djere in his first competitive outing of the season and he is poised to face off with either Michael Mmoh or Viktor Troicki in the next round.

Having been forced to skip the ATP Cup, there were concerns with how the world No.2 would fare in his AO campaign.

“For the last 15 days I have been suffering with the back,” he revealed on the eve of the tournament.

Muscle tightness had made it difficult for him to play “with freedom of movement”.

Yet he looked in perfect shape walked into Rod Laver Arena for his first-round clash with Djere.

“I needed to survive today and that’s what I did. Just tried to be focused all the time, tried to get through,” said Nadal, the 2009 champion at Melbourne Park.

“For me personally, (I’m) happy to be through to the second round. I did I think a good job today. Straight sets, that’s what I did.”

Watch the highlights of the match below

Novak Djokovic victorious against Jeremy Chardy

Novak Djokovic continues to flourish in the Australian Open as the world No.1 ignited his title defence with a 6-3 6-1 6-2 masterclass over Jeremy Chardy on Monday night.

The top seed flagged off his ninth title bid at Melbourne Park in ominous fashion to book a second-round match-up with American Frances Tiafoe.

In 13 previous encounters with Chardy, it was ‘Game, set, match Djokovic’ every time. Their first match was at Australian Open 2009 in straight sets, and it followed a familiar storyline on Rod Laver Arena.

Novak said after the match: “It’s an ongoing love affair between me and the Rod Laver Arena,” as he grabbed his 15th successive victory on the world-renowned court coming courtesy of 41 winners.

“Hopefully I can have many great matches this year with this type of performance. Obviously, I wanted to start of well, first match, night session. It’s very special to be back on one of the most special courts around the world. It’s my most successful court, every time I step on this court I re-live these memories.”

Watch the highlights of the match below

Other results…

• Novak Djokovic (Ser) (1) bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 6-3 6-1 6-2
• Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Stefano Travaglia (Ita) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2
• Reilly Opelka (USA) bt Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-3
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spa) v Taylor Harry Fritz (USA) (27)
• Stan Wawrinka (Swi) (17) bt Pedro Sousa (Por) 6-3 6-2 6-4
• Marton Fucsovics (Hun) bt Marc Polmans (Aus) 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-3
• Corentin Moutet (Fra) bt John Millman (Aus) 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 3-6 6-2 6-3
• Milos Raonic (Can) (14) bt Federico Coria (Arg) 6-3 6-3 6-2
• Emil Ruusuvuori (Fin) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) (10) 3-6 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-3
• Pedro Martinez Portero (Spa) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (Jpn) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-1 6-1
• Alexander Bublik (Kaz) bt Aljaz Bedene (Slo) 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-4
• Dusan Lajovic (Ser) (23) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) 5-7 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-4
• Adrian Mannarino (Fra) (32) bt Dennis Novak (Aut) 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-2)
• Miomir Kecmanovic (Ser) bt Kamil Majchrzak (Pol) 6-2 6-4 6-3
• Maxime Cressy (USA) bt Taro Daniel (Jpn) 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (Ger) (6) bt Marcos Giron (USA) 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2
• Dominic Thiem (Aut) (3) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-3
• Dominik Koepfer (Ger) bt Hugo Dellien (Bol) 7-5 6-2 6-4
• Nick Kyrgios (Aus) bt Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) 6-4 6-4 6-4
• Ugo Humbert (Fra) (29) bt Yasutaka Uchiyama (Jpn) 6-3 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3
• Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) (18) bt Marin Cilic (Cro) 6-4 6-2 7-6 (7-5)
• Alex Bolt (Aus) bt Norbert Gombos (Svk) 6-2 6-2 4-6 6-3
• Jiri Vesely (Cze) bt Kimmer Coppejans (Bel) 6-4 3-6 7-6(7-3) 6-3 6-3
• Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spa) (15) bt Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-2
• Denis Shapovalov (Can) (11) bt Jannik Sinner (Ita) 3-6 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4
• Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 3-6 6-1 4-1 [Retired]
• James Duckworth (Aus) bt Damir Dzumhur (Bih) 6-3 6-2 6-4
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can) (20) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (Ger) 6-2 6-4 6-2
• Egor Gerasimov (Blr) bt Benoit Paire (Fra) (25) 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5
• Aslan Karatsev (Rus) bt Gianluca Mager (Ita) 6-3 6-3 6-4
• Alexandre Muller (Fr) bt Juan Ignacio Londero (Arg) 4-6 6-3 6-0 6-3
• Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) (8) bt Elias Ymer (Swe) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 2-6 6-2