‘Next Nadal’ makes fast start to Open

Spanish tennis prodigy Carlos Alcaraz has made a lightning start to the Australian Open, storming into the second round in less than two hours.

The 31st seed was completely untroubled in beating Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabillo 6-2 6-2 6-3 yesterday.

At 18, Alcaraz is the youngest player in the men’s draw and somewhat unfairly carries the burden of being hailed as the next Rafael Nadal. But the teenager did little to temper expectations, backing up his charge to last year’s US Open quarter-finals with an ominous opening to the Melbourne Park grand slam.

Alcaraz will next meet Serb Dusan Lajovic tomorrow for a place in the last 32.

Fellow young gun Denis Shapovalov of Canada also safely progressed but in vastly different fashion, the 14th seed needing four tough sets and two tiebreakers to see off Serbian Laso Djere.

Shapovalov prevailed 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3) after three hours and 23 minutes to set up a second-round clash with Korean Soonwoo Kwon, a 3-6 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 comeback winner over Holger Rune of Denmark.

And Rafael Nadal himself wasted no time underlining his title credentials with a commanding first-round win at Melbourne Park.

Pounding winners from all angles of the court, Nadal looked lethal in a 6-1 6-4 6-2 demolition of American Marcos Giron.

Other early winners on day one included French showman Gael Monfils, who allayed fears over a neck injury with a 6-1 6-1 6-3 rout of Argentine Federico Coria.

● Meanwhile, defending champion Naomi Osaka eased into the second round with a straight sets win over spirited Colombian Camila Osorio.

The Japanese superstar delivered a mixed bag en route to a 6-3 6-3 win over the world No 50.

With her ranking slipping to No 14 after a tumultuous 2021, Osaka showed no signs of the abdominal injury that saw her withdraw from the semi-finals of a lead-up tournament 10 days ago.

‘‘I thought I played really well given the circumstances,’’ Osaka said.

The four-time grand slam champion looked like she would make short work of Osorio, racing to a 5-0 lead in the opening set on Rod Laver Arena.

But Osorio, who hadn’t played since October, skipping the warm-up tournaments in Australia, started to find her rhythm. The 20-year-old clawed her way back to 3-5 and then had two break points to get the match back on serve. But Osaka steadied before sending down a big serve to wrap up the first set.

The former world No 1 then took advantage of a poor service game by Osorio to break for a 3-1 lead. While the youngster tried to stay in touch she was unable to peg back her rival.

Osaka herself has played only three matches since her third-round exit at the US Open, opting to take a break from tennis.