Second seed Rafael Nadal breezed into the Australian Open third round with a 6-0 6-2 6-2 demolition of Frenchman Florent Serra.

The world number two won the first eight games with his usual barrage of heavy groundstrokes and although Serra competed more effectively in the second and third sets, he never threatened to halt the Spaniard's progress.

Nadal, seeking his first Australian Open title, completed victory in one hour 34 minutes and next plays Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Also safely through to the third round was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , who ended ninth seed Andy Murray's hopes in the first round.

Mardy Fish exacted revenge for his US Open meltdown against Tommy Robredo with a 6-1 6-2 6-3 victory over the 11th seed.

Fish was leading 4-1 in the fifth set of their second-round match at Flushing Meadows last year but suffered the yips and was knocked out by the Spaniard.

The 26-year-old, whose best performance at a Grand Slam was reaching the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park last year, meets Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the third round, and a fourth-round showdown with good friend Andy Roddick is looming.

AFP / Reuters