Rafael Nadal breezed past Leonardo Mayer in straight sets as he made his way into the third round of the Australian Open. Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open winner and a four-time finalist at Melbourne Park, showed he was not troubled by his recent knee issues to beat Leonardo Mayer in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in two hours and 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
After dropping just three games in his first-round defeat of Dominican Estrella Burgos, the men's top seed Nadal was forced to dig deeper in his fifth career meeting with 30-year-old Mayer. The 16-time major singles winner had his serve broken at 5-4 and was forced to a tie-breaker in a third set which lasted 69 minutes.
An animated Nadal leapt into the air and pumped his fist with delight after sending a searing forehand winner down the line to go up 4-2 before serving out the match. The Spaniard racked up 40 winners and just 10 unforced errors compared to 33 for his opponent.
"It's an important victory for me," Nadal said.
"
He was a tough opponent. Leonardo is a player with big potential, he hits the ball so strong. I had to hit some great shots in the tiebreak. Happy to be in the third round of course. Second victory in a row, it's very important news for me."
Nadal, who 12 months ago lost an epic final against Roger Federer, will next face Damir Dzumhur after the Bosnian ended the tournament of Australian John Millman.
