Rafael Nadal Cruises to Win vs. Michael Mmoh at 2021 Australian Open

Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the 2021 Australian Open on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Michael Mmoh at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Nadal, who is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, was never threatened by the American qualifier, as he fired off 40 winners compared to Mmoh's 16.

With the victory, Rafa has now reached the third round in all but one of the 16 Australian Opens he has competed in during his illustrious career.

Nadal won 84 percent of his first serves compared to just 59 percent for Mmoh. He also broke Mmoh five times on 11 chances, while Mmoh never had so much as one break-point opportunity in the match.

The Spaniard was rolling right out of the gates, taking the first set 6-1, and his sharp forehand was a big reason for his success:

Nadal was dealing with a nagging back injury entering the tournament, but it had no ill effects in the first round against Laslo Dere and didn't seem to bother him at all Thursday, either.

The second-round match was so one-sided that much of the excitement came courtesy of something that happened in the stands.

As seen in the following tweet courtesy of ESPN UK, a woman shouted obscenities at Nadal and gave him the middle finger before getting ejected from the stadium:

After Nadal took the second set 6-4, Mmoh's back was against the wall, and he desperately needed to avoid conceding another break to Rafa in the third set.

Nadal was able to secure the break on a phenomenal sequence, however, and the The Tennis Podcast described the scene:

That break was the catalyst Nadal needed to close things out, as he won the match in less than two hours and punched his ticket to the next round.

Nadal is now undefeated in his career in Australian Open second-round matches, and he finds himself in solid position to advance past the third round as well.

In his next match, Nadal will face Great Britain's Cameron Norrie, who will be playing a third-round match at a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career.

Norrie has never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament, making the 25-year-old an ideal matchup for Nadal, who is in search of his second career Aussie Open title.