World No.1 Rafael Nadal has continued his ominous start to the Australian Open, powering through to the round of 32 with a straight-sets win over Argentina's Leonardo Mayer.
The 2009 champion again looked untroubled on Wednesday by his recent knee issues, claiming a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory in two hours and 38 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal will face Bosnian No.28 seed Damir Dzumhur - who earlier had edged out local favourite John Millman - in Friday's third round.
After dropping just three games in his first-round defeat of Dominican Estrella Burgos, Nadal was forced to dig deeper in his fifth career meeting with the 30-year-old Mayer.
The 16-time grand-slam winner had his serve broken at 5-4 and was forced to a tiebreaker in a third set which lasted 69 minutes.
An animated Nadal leapt into the air and pumped his fist with delight after sending a searing forehand winner down the line to go up 4-2 before serving out the match.
"Serving for the match or serving for the set, there is always some breaks," Nadal said.
"Of course, is not a good thing. But in this case particularly, I personally was not losing the game because I was too nervous, because I felt too much tension.
"He played a great game. All the returns in, very long, playing so aggressive, hitting all the balls super strong, and having success."
While he felt there was room for improvement with his serve, Nadal did little else wrong.
The Spaniard racked up 40 winners and made just 10 unforced errors compared to 33 for his opponent.
"It's an important victory for me," Nadal said.
"Leonardo is a player with big potential ... I had to hit some great shots in the tiebreak."
Nadal retired during his only previous meeting with Dzumhur - a second-round clash at the 2016 Miami Open - after becoming dizzy in the hot and humid conditions.
With temperatures set to reach 39 degrees on Friday, Nadal was hopeful their next match would be on a show court with the roof closed.
"He improved a lot from there," Nadal said of Dzumhur.
"He is a tough opponent. He's a tricky one. He plays with the right tactic always ... a player that (is) going to give you nothing.
"The only way to win is play in a high rhythm than him and try to play aggressive, try to put the highest intensity possible out there."
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