MELBOURNE - A confident-looking Guillermo Coria cruised into the second round of the Australian Open tennis championships on Tuesday, brushing aside the challenge of Czech teenager Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 6-0.
The sixth-seeded Argentine, who was beaten in the first round last year, made just 15 unforced errors as he eased to victory in one hour, 36 minutes.
Coria, runner-up at the French Open in 2004, had been troubled by a sore back in the run-up to the event but showed no signs of discomfort as he outclassed Berdych on Rod Laver Arena.
The 19-year-old Berdych, world-ranked 43, fought hard but once Coria had taken the second set with a single break of serve, the Czech's spirit waned and Coria romped through the third.
He'll play either Brazilian Ricardo Mello or Alberto Martin of Spain in the second round.
Results on the second day of the Australian Open:
Round 1
Men's Singles
15-Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Jerome Haehnel (Fra) 6-2 6-2 7-5
6-Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-2 6-4 6-0
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Gillese Muller (Lux) 6-3 6-0 6-4
17-Andrei Pavel (Rom) bt Olivier Mutis (Fra) 6-4 6-4 6-0
Women's singles
26-Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Akiko Morigami (Jpn) 6-4 7-5
Tathiana Garbin (Ita) bt Marlene Weingartner (Ger) 7-5 7-6(7-5)
Klara Koukalova (Cze) bt Meilen Tu (USA) 6-3 6-3
- REUTERS
Tennis: Confident start for Coria
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.