Australian Open: Rafael Nadal Through To the Second Round With a Convincing Win

One down, six to go.

Rafael Nadal is through to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-0, 5-0 easy win over Marcos Daniel of Brazil, who retired early as a result of a leg injury sustained during the second set.

Nadal will next face Ryan Sweeting in the second round on Wednesday.

The script couldn’t have been written better. The Tuesday scheduling provided him an extra day of rest to recover fully from the flu and he needed a less than stressful first round match.

He also needed some good match practice as well, and that is exactly what he got today. He wrapped up the match quickly, thus avoiding any overexertion.

Also, the side affects of flu were no longer visible and that is a very good sign indeed.

What is an even more encouraging sign is that his forehand is looking as good as ever and he is moving really well. The balls are landing deep and that is a very positive sign too.

Although, he was hitting some serves around 127 or 128 mph today; he still needs to work on it a little bit more. Undoubtedly, his serve has vastly improved over the last few years, yet one gets the feeling that it is slightly below the US Open level.

Though the high bouncing surface here at the Australian Open suits him much more than the US Open surface, it would be better to continue improving.

He could have easily avoided committing so many double faults today. After all, he may meet John "The Tree" Isner in the fourth round, who is usually not so easy to break. So, Rafa would need to hold his end as well.

But, I guess Rafa is very well aware of the subpar serving show that he put up today, which is why he rushed straight to the practice courts after the match was over.

The good thing is that he looks determined to give all he has got and when he is in this state of mind, Nadal is just a pure delight to watch.

In fact, all the top players—Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro—are looking good, winning their first round matches in convincing fashion.

So, what have we learned in the first two days at the Aussie Open?

1) Federer Magic: Federer is playing the way we always expect him to play, though in the third set, he was unusually passive with the forehand on a couple of points.

2) Novak's serve is back: His serve has been the biggest letdown in the last year or so, but yesterday, he was serving spectacularly well—wide, deep, fast and accurate. Warning bells for Federer.

3) Murray is looking solid and hungry: Yup.

4) Roddick can give Federer a tough time in the quarters.

5) Del Potro can go deep: I never thought I would say this, but after his first round win over Dudi Sela, he is starting to look like the Delpo we know.

6) Rafa is healthy, fit and ready: Yup, watch out for him. He looks as determined and confident as ever.

"Rafa slam" is very much possible