Nadal beats crowd, Luczak to reach second round

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal began his Australian Open title defense with a 7-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Peter Luczak, weathering a crowd-driven onslaught before powering away from the local hope Monday.

The six-times grand slam champion came back a break down in the first set before wrapping up the tiebreaker to love and breezing through the last two sets in just over an hour.

"I never thought it was going to be an easy match before going on court," Nadal, who last year ground down Roger Federer in a classic five-set final, told reporters.

"I was playing shorter than usual. I made more mistakes ... After (the tiebreaker) I started to play longer, I started to play more aggressive, so I started to play more my tennis."

Far from being over-awed, 70th-ranked Luczak had the Spaniard on the back foot early, engaging him in lengthy baseline rallies and attacking his serve with gusto to the delight of a packed crowd at Rod Laver Arena.

The strategy paid off as Luczak broke the world number two's serve to lead 5-3, slapping a sharp cross-court return that clipped the line on the game's sixth break point and brought thunderous cheers.

But nerves got the better of the Australian, who double-faulted twice when serving for the set to allow Nadal to break back, then promptly collapsed in a heap in the tiebreaker.

"I'll definitely remember that for the rest of my life," said Luczak, who has never won an ATP title.