Rafael Nadal eased concerns over his injured back as he made a fast start to his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam at at the Australian Open while Daniil Medvedev extended his winning streak to 15 matches and fellow Russian Andery Rublev continued his unbeaten start to the year on Tuesday.

Among the seeds to fall in the opening round were 12th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who was beaten by Radu Albot 6-7 (1/7), 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and 13th seed David Goffin, whose wrteched run continued as he lost to local player Alexei Popyrin 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-3

Ninth-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini ousted two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, but he was made to work hard for the win while fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas looked in great touch as he beat Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 in 91 minutes to set up an exciting clash with Thanasi Kokkinakis .

Nadal, who pulled out of last year’s ATP Cup with back problems, beat Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 52 minutes. It was his first competitive match since the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in London on November 21.

Nadal raced to a 3-0 first-set lead and wrapped it up before a tougher set two as Djere upped his first serve percentage and got himself in the rallies, with Nadal saving three break points. But the unrelenting Spaniard kept coming, dominating off his first serve and outlasting the Serb on the long rallies.

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“It’s been a tough 15 days for me,” said the 2009 champion, whose back stiffness first flared during an exhibition match last month. “I needed to survive today and that’s what I did. I’m happy to be through and I think I did a good job today. Straight sets is what I needed.”

Nadal, 34, is bidding to outstrip his old rival Roger Federer, who is missing the tournament as he recovers from surgery, and take sole ownership of the all-time record for Grand Slam titles.

Nadal next plays either Serb veteran Viktor Troicki or qualifier Michael Mmoh and is on course to meet Greek rising star and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.

Russia’s Medvedev extended his winning run with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.

The world No 4 has been in blistering form as he looks to lift a first Grand Slam title, with 10 of his victories during the win streak against top-10 players which includes winning the Paris Masters, ATP Finals and last week’s ATP Cup with Russia.

Medvedev broke Pospisil in the first game and there was no looking back as he ruthlessly overpowered the 30-year-old, dominating from the baseline and forcing the Canadian into 43 unforced errors.

Medvedev, 24, has been knocking on the door of Grand Slam success for some time, reaching the 2019 US Open final – where he lost in five sets to Rafael Nadal – and the last four in New York in 2020. But he has yet to go beyond the round of 16 in four previous appearances at Melbourne Park.

Medvedev will next play either Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baenza or Hungary’s Attila Balazs, with a potential last-eight meeting with fellow in-form Russian Andrey Rublev beckoning.

Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev also continued his unbeaten start to the year with a straight-sets win over German Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Rublev started slowly against Hanfmann, losing his opening service game, but thereafter was barely troubled, breaking twice to take the set comfortably. He broke early in the second as Hanfmann struggled with the power and accuracy of his groundstrokes, with the relentless Russian sending down 17 aces and dominating from the baseline.

After winning five ATP titles last year, more than anyone else, Rublev opened 2021 with four straight wins in helping guide Russia to the ATP Cup last week, making him a contender for a first Grand Slam title.

Rublev next plays Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro, who beat Slovak Andrej Martin.

America’s Tennys Sandgren , who were also in hard quarantine, both went out but there was an impressive, straight-sets win for Spanish Grand Slam debutant Carlos Alcaraz, 17.

“He has all the ingredients to become a great champion,” Nadal said of Alcaraz, who swept past Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Results

Andrey Rublev (RUS x7) bt Yannick Hanfmann (GER) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Thiago Monteiro (BRA) bt Andrej Martin (SVK) 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 6-2

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) bt Li Tu (AUS) 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA x31) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 7-5, 6-4, 6-4

Casper Ruud (NOR x24) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-3, 2-1 ret

Tommy Paul (USA) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-4, 7-6 (7/0), 6-4

Christopher O’Connell (AUS) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1

Radu Albot (MDA) bt Roberto Bautista (ESP x12) 6-7 (1/7), 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)

Alexei Popyrin (AUS) bt David Goffin (BEL x13) 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-3

Lloyd Harris (RSA) bt Mikael Torpegaard (DEN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Mackenzie McDonald (USA) bt Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Borna Coric (CRO x22) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5

Filip Krajinovic (SRB x28) bt Robin Haase (NED) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Pablo Andujar (ESP) bt Quentin Halys (FRA) 6-4, 7-5, 7-5

Roberto Carballes (ESP) bt Attila Balazs (HUN) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Daniil Medvedev (RUS x4) bt Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-2, 6-2, 6-4

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x5) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-1

Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) bt Soonwoo Kwon (KOR) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) bt Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4

Mikael Ymer (SWE) bt Hubert Hurkacz (POL x26) 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Karen Khachanov (RUS x19) bt Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4

Ricardas Berankis (LTU) bt Sumit Nagal (IND) 6-2, 7-5, 6-3

Tomas Machac (CZE) bt Mario Vilella (ESP) 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-0, 3-0 ret

Matteo Berrettini (ITA x9) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 7-6 (11/9), 7-5, 6-3

Fabio Fognini (ITA x16) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

Salvatore Caruso (ITA) bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3

Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Alex De Minaur (AUS x21) bt Tennys Sandgren (USA) 7-5, 6-1, 6-1

Cameron Norrie (GBR) bt Daniel Evans (GBR x30) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Roman Safiullin (RUS) bt Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

Michael Mmoh (USA) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5

Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Laslo Djere (SRB) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1

With AFP Inputs