Top seed Rafa Nadal continued his marauding path through the Australian Open, hammering Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4) to reach the third round on Wednesday.
Channelling his early years with a sleeveless shirt, the muscular Mallorcan threw Mayer like a rag-doll around the Rod Laver Arena court for two hours and 38 minutes, pounding the world number 52 with a barrage of top-spin bombs.
A masterful performance was blighted only by a late wobble, when Nadal was broken serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider.
But the Spaniard found an extra gear in the tiebreak, wrapping up the match with a monster serve to the corner that Mayer battled to get a racket to.
Nadal's bid for a 17th grand slam title continues against Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur.

Rafael Nadal mows down Mayer to reach Australian Open third round
Spain's Rafael Nadal in action during his match against Argentina's Leonardo Mayer. (Reuters)
Reuters
Wednesday 17 January 2018
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:50 - GMT 06:50
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