Doubles star John Peers says he was mentally drained after winning the Australian Open and struggled to back up for the Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic.
Peers and Finland's Henri Kontinen clinched their first Grand Slam title by winning the men's doubles at Melbourne Park late last month.
Despite the fatigue, Peers and Sam Groth easily outclassed Czech duo Jiri Vasely and Jan Satral 6-3 6-3 6-2 to seal the first round tie for Australia at Kooyong on Saturday.
While he put his celebrations on hold, Peers admitted he struggled mentally to get up for the tie.
"It's never easy to back up after what we went through in the Australian Open," world No. 6 Peers said.
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"I was on an amazing high and mentally very drained for a few days to be honest.
"I think it came Wednesday I said to Grothy (Sam Groth) that I'm actually feeling good and have got some mental energy and am almost fresh again out on court."
Groth held his own alongside Peers, firing some big winners and with his giant serve doing its usual damage.
After a foot injury and run of poor results saw him slip to world No.182 from a career high 53 in 2015, Groth hoped it was a sign of things to come.
"I thought as a team we played well but personally I thought I played very well; I didn't put a foot wrong, " Groth said.
"I thought the summer was a good step for me but definitely the work I've done this week and then to play well hopefully sets to set me up for a better year than I had last year which shouldn't be too tough."
