Nadal thrashes Rochus in quick time

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - World number one Rafael Nadal provided an ominous demonstration of his Australian Open intentions by crushing Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-0 6-2 6-2 in the first round on Tuesday.

The Spaniard could hardly have been more impressive as he raced to victory in 77 minutes for the loss of just four games.

Nadal, whose best performance at the Australian Open was when he reached the semi-finals last year, faces Roko Karanusic of Croatia in the next round.

(Reporting by Julian Linden, editing by Pritha Sarkar)