Nadal dominates in opening match at Australian Open
Rafael Nadal had a 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 win over Hugo Dellien in his first competitive match back on Rod Laver Arena since losing the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic last year.
The top-ranked Nadal is chasing his 20th major singles title, aiming to equal Roger Federer's men's record. He's also aiming to complete a collection by winning each of the four Grand Slam titles at least twice. He won the Australian title in 2009 and has lost four finals since then at Melbourne Park.
The 33-year-old Nadal dropped a service game once in each of the first two sets but was too dominant for No. 73-ranked Dellien, a Bolivian who was playing his first match at the season's first major and had only played five previous matches in the main draw of a major.
''It's a positive start,'' Nadal said. ''What you want in the first round is to win, and straight sets is better.''
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