Melbourne — A ruthless Rafa Nadal preserved his creaky knees for tougher tests down the road by routing Dominican journeyman Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1 6-1 6-1 to sail into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. Playing his first competitive match since pulling out of the ATP Tour Finals with knee trouble in November, the world No1 showed no signs of early season rust as he tore through the evening match in one hour and 34 minutes. "Happy for the start, of course," Nadal, who lost 2017’s final in a five-set classic to Roger Federer, told reporters. "It’s a positive start with a good result. If I do months without playing an official match, it’s always a little bit more difficult. "But I started with positive feelings. That’s the most important thing for me now. Of course, there are things to improve. "But the thing that I need to improve, the matches will give me those things, no? Victories are the most important thing now," he said. Victory never appeared in doubt again...
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