MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal began fine-tuning his quest for a 21st Grand Slam singles title with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Ricardas Berankis on Thursday in a warm-up tournament ahead of the Australian Open.

       Nadal, recovering from the coronavirus, showed no signs of sluggishness on Rod Laver Arena, although he was broken early in the second set and again when he served for the match.

       “It’s only the first match after a while. Honestly, I have been going through some difficult, challenging moments the past year-and-a-half,” Nadal said, “but in general terms I am super happy to be back in competition.”

       In the women’s event at Melbourne Park, defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka beat Maryna Zanevska 6-1, 6-1, and second-seeded Simona Halep defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals.

       Earlier, former French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the Adelaide International quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez.

       The fifth-seeded Swiatek joined top-ranked Ash Barty in the last eight and will play two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who beat Priscilla Hon 6-3, 7-5.

       Seventh-seeded Elina Rybakina and Shelby Rogers, who beat third-seeded Maria Sakkari, will meet in another quarter-final match.

       The Adelaide and Melbourne tournaments are two of six tune-up events being staged in Australia this week ahead of the season-opening major at Melbourne Park, which starts on Jan 17.

       Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022