Rafael Nadal has begun his bid for a second Australian Open crown with an impressive victory over Mikhail Youzhny.
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The third seed, who missed much of the second half of 2014 through injury, looked close to his best in sweeping past the Russian by a 6-3 6-2 6-2 scoreline.
After taking time to find his feet, Nadal began to up the tempo against an opponent who was considered one of the toughest outside of the 32 seeds, and one break of serve was enough to seal the early advantage.
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Nadal raced into a 3-0 lead at the start of the second, displaying the type of shots that make him one of the most exciting players in the world, and although Youzhny secured a couple of games, he had no answer to the relentless hitting of the left-hander.
Youzhny competed well in the first four games of the third, but after breaking in the sixth game, Nadal powered through the final stages to move through to a meeting with either Luke Saville or Tim Smyczek.
Darren Plant
