Second seed Daniil Medvedev, aiming to become the first Australian Open men’s singles champion from Russia since Marat Safin in 2005, remains on target.
A finalist at Melbourne Park last year, the 25-year-old made a triumphant return to Rod Laver Arena with a 6-1 6-4 7-6(3) defeat of Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen in one hour and 54 minutes.
Laaksonen, 29, elicited murmurs of surprise from an appreciative crowd by breaking the second seed in the opening game, but the Russian immediately regained control of the match. Medvedev reeled off the next six consecutive service games, saving four break points to close out the set.
Laaksonen, yet to notch a win over a player ranked in the top five in three attempts, repeatedly flashed his big forehand and garnered plenty of support as the obvious underdog.
But Medvedev, as he often does, turned defence into offence and, demonstrating superb court coverage, secured a crucial break in the fifth game which he retained to earn a two-sets-to-love lead.
A masterclass in fine footwork and deft use of slice backhands ensued in the third set, which was a tighter affair as Laaksonen held his own to force a tiebreak.
The pair twice exchanged mini-breaks, as Laaksonen outlasted his higher-ranked opponent to win a 32-stroke rally to level the tiebreak at 3-3. But Medvedev snatched the next four points, clinching the win with a whipping forehand that Laaksonen’s outstretched racket was unable to return.
MORE: Men's singles results day two
"He started playing better, he was touching a lot of the lines", Medvedev said, crediting Laaksonen’s resurgence in the late stages of their battle which saw the Swiss overtake his opponent in the overall winner count. “[In the] third set, I felt like he closed his eyes and just started hitting [with] full power… I mean, some shots were exceptional.
"I like pressure," acknowledged Medvedev, who fired 10 aces en route to victory. “I like to play here, I like hard courts," he added. “[I] always want to do better than I did last year, but it’s not going to be easy."
After representing Russia in the ATP Cup earlier this month where he further honed net skills during doubles, the agile right-hander said he is physically and mentally ready to compete in Melbourne – a factor that, in his words, enables him to "beat anybody".
Although armed with increased self-belief after breaking the Big Three stranglehold to win his first major at last year’s US Open, the Russian knows that alone doesn’t guarantee he’ll be handed coveted silverware next Sunday.
“I know what I have to do before the match, after the match, one day before the match, to feel good. That's what I'm trying to reproduce,” Medvedev said. “It does give me extra confidence because now I know that it is possible to do it, and I know that if I'm playing good tennis, it's really tough to beat me.
“I know that I'm capable of playing seven great matches in a row on the same court or same venue, beating the best players in the world.”
Still, if the slight Russian ends up cradling the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the end of the fortnight, Medvedev will make history as the first man in the Open Era to win a second major title in two consecutive Grand Slams.
In the second round, Medvedev takes the court against either home-crowd favourite Nick Kyrgios or British qualifier Liam Brody. As to whether he’ll tune into that duel?
"If they’re going to show it on TV, yes," said the second seed, grinning.