Nadal takes clinical route to Australian Open third round

World number one Rafael Nadal continued his quest for 17th Grand Slam title by clinching a hard-fought straight sets victory over Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Australian Open here on Wednesday.

The Spanish tennis maestro showed no sign of his recent knee issues, but he left frustrated by Mayer's resilience before coming out as an eventual winner with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 win in a thrilling clash that lasted for two hours and 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal committed smashed 40 winners and just 10 unforced errors in contrast to Mayer's 48 winners - including 15 aces.

With the win, the Spanish superstar has extended his Head-to-Head record to 5-0 against the Argentine.

Nadal will now lock horns with Bosnia and Herzegovina's Damir Dzumhur in the third round of the first major of the season.

Earlier, Nadal began his campaign with a thumping win over Dominican player Victor Estrella Burgos on Monday.

The Spaniard advanced to the second round of the season's first Grand Slam after defeating Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in 94 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

--ANI