AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
BBC coverage: Every Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
Daily from 0830 GMT: live on BBC Red Button/website, 5 Live sports extra
Daily from 0000 GMT: text commentary on BBC Sport website

Nadal last won a tournament in Barcelona in April

Rafael Nadal started the defence of his Australian Open title with a 7-6 (7-0) 6-1 6-4 win over Peter Luczak in the opening night match on Rod Laver Arena.

The Spanish world number two struggled early on and trailed the Australian 5-3 in the first set, but he fought back to reach the second round in Melbourne.

Seventh seed Andy Roddick beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-1 6-4 6-4.

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro had a tougher time as he beat American Michael Russell 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-2.

Nadal beat Roger Federer in the 2009 final but struggled with injuries later in the season and is now seeking to win his first tournament since April.

The 30-year-old Luczak, who enjoyed good support from the home crowd, broke Nadal in the eighth game to set up a chance to serve for the first set.

But the world number 78 double-faulted twice and Nadal took advantage of his opponent's nerves to draw level.

I was probably playing a little short of my best and he was playing well Rafael Nadal

Although guilty of 10 forced errors in the opening set, the Spaniard romped through the tie-break without dropping a point.

The left-hander made only six errors in the remainder of the match as he powered through the last two sets to seal victory in two hours and 34 minutes.

The 23-year-old will face either Argentine Leonardo Mayer or Slovakia's Lukas Lacko in the second round, with Britain's Andy Murray a potential quarter-final opponent.

The Spaniard said: "I was probably playing a little short of my best and he was playing well."

"You know always that you will be more nervous in the first round. First rounds are always difficult to play very well.

"So I thought it was going to be a tough match. The first set was tough. Later it was easier.

606: DEBATE Decent performance from both Murray and Nadal today, they did what they had to do nearlytwentyletters

"Winning in three sets is good news. I am happy to be in the second round."

Del Potro, winner of the 2009 US Open, admitted he was still feeling some discomfort from the wrist injury which forced him to withdraw from last week's Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament.

"I don't feel a 100%, but I am better than yesterday, and I hope to be better for Wednesday in my next match," he said.

"After two hours of the match the pain came and I did feel a little bit, but I can play.

Roddick, a four-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, tripped over a line judge in the opening set of his match but was unhurt.

De Bakker, the world number 80, served 17 aces but the only real hiccup for Roddick was a 45-minute delay in the second set while the roof of the Hisense Arena was closed because of rain.

"I ran into one of those immovable objects called a referee (line judge)," said Roddick.

Roddick was not amused by a collision with a line judge

"He wasn't giving up any ground. I didn't see him. He wasn't really trying to do much to get out of the way.

"Normally they see a player running full speed, they decide to at least move or catch the player."

Fernando Gonzalez, seeded 11th, is also through after a 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over Belgium's Olivier Rochus.

But 13th seed Radek Stepanek is out after he lost 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 3-6 6-4 to giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

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