Rafa Nadal defied his gloomy injury prognosis and complete lack of match practice to crush Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday and reach the Australian Open second round as he launched his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title.

The Spanish great had pulled out of his nation’s ATP Cup campaign with a back problem and was bordering on mournful on the eve on the Grand Slam when he said the injury was still affecting him.

“It’s been a tough 15 days for me,” said the 2009 champion. “I needed to survive today so that’s what I did. I’m still alive and that’s the main thing.”

Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas served up a tennis masterclass to veteran French Gilles Simon during a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 thrashing. The 2019 Melbourne Park semi-finalist barely broke sweat during the match at Rod Laver Arena and did not face a break point against the 36-year-old Simon, who is ranked 66th in the world.

The Greek will next meet Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis, who breezed past Kwon Soon-woo of South Korea 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, battle-hardened after firing Russia to an ATP Cup triumph at Melbourne Park last week, cruised into the second round.

Seventh seed Rublev opened the day’s action on John Cain Arena with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Yannick Hanfmann before Medvedev, the fourth seed, dispensed with Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Nagal falters

India’s Sumit Nagal lost in the first round, struggling to cope with the power-packed game of Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. He lost 2-6, 5-7, 3-6 in two hours and 10 minutes.

Injured Konta out

Briton Johanna Konta said she was in shock after an abdominal injury abruptly ended her challenge here, even though she was leading Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan 6-4, 0-2.

World No. 1 Ash Barty barely broke sweat as she swept into the second round with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of error-prone Danka Kovinic.

Such one-sided contests will do nothing for ticket sales at a tournament struggling to get fans through the gates, but Barty will not care a jot as she seeks to become the first home-grown singles champion at the Grand Slam since 1978.

Two more players in the women’s draw who had to endure the 14-day hard lockdown in Australia are out of the tournament. And both blamed the strict quarantine set-up.

Victoria Azarenka, a two-time winner at the Australian Open, appeared to have trouble breathing and received medical attention in the second set of a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Jessica Pegula of the US.

Azarenka didn’t want to discuss her health afterward, but she did note how difficult it was to prepare for a Grand Slam tournament after being one of 72 players placed in hard quarantine — not allowed to leave their hotel rooms for any reason — after potentially being exposed to Covid-19 on their flight. “The biggest impact for me personally has been not being able to have fresh air,” the 12th-seeded Azarenka said. “That really took a toll.”

Paula Badosa lost to qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in a gruelling match that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours.

American teenager Coco Gauff said she felt right at home on the John Cain Arena court as she knocked out Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-2.

Sofia Kenin was in tears before launching her title defence and again after completing a 7-5, 6-4 win over local wildcard Maddison Inglis.

Fourth seed Kenin, who claimed her maiden Grand Slam at Melbourne Park last year in a major surprise, found the going tough against the world No. 133 Australian on a glorious morning at Rod Laver Arena.