Daniil Medvedev sent a huge statement with a 6-0 6-1 6-2 victory over Marcos Giron.
The world number eight was in no mood to waste any time as he dispatched the American with the loss of three games.
Medvedev reached the final last year, losing to Rafael Nadal in five sets and is set for a rematch with the Spaniard if he reaches the last eight.
Conditions for this year’s Australian Open may favour the flatter hitters and there are no flatter hitters on the tour than Medvedev who is into the second round.
After the match Medvedev spoke about how happy he was with his level, “I’m really happy with my level,” Medvedev told Eurosport.
“It’s never easy in the first rounds, you never know what the level is, I told my coach today I was playing really good in practice before the tournament, and then I step on the warm-up court today and I’m like, the sensations are really different.
“It’s always like this, when the tournament starts it’s a new story kind of, so I’m happy I was able to play well, run well, was physically feeling great, and looking forward to my next matches.”
Medvedev will now face Australian wildcard John Millman in the second round, who defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in five sets.
The other main story in the evening was Lloyd Harris is into the second round after a five set upset over 21st seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Harris is a former Grand Slam quarter-finalist and is just returning back from injury with the South African winning a fifth set tiebreak against the Italian.
After the match Harris said that the win was more satisfying given his time away from the tour, “Absolutely. It’s been really hard. A lot of things, ups and downs,” Harris said in his post-match press conference.
“I mean, me and the team, family, everyone, we worked so hard for me to get back here. So, I mean, it feels amazing. It feels amazing to be back playing, enjoying the crowd, just enjoying the tennis. I mean, I had a blast out there.
“I think win or lose, I mean, obviously, I would be very disappointed, but I was really just enjoying the moment, the crowd, the atmosphere. It was great.”
Harris will now play Marton Fucsovics in the second round, who also survived a five set thriller with Argentinian Federico Coria.
Should the South African win that then 15th seed Jannik Sinner could await in the third round.
