Francisco Cerúndolo cruised to a straight sets victory (6-3 6-2 6-1) against Bosnia and Herzegovina's Damir Džumhur on what was an uncomfortably windy afternoon at Melbourne Park.
Beyond losing his serve in the very first game of the match, Cerúndolo looked at complete ease throughout the remainder of the day, winning 79% of first serve points compared with a his average of just 68% over the last 52 weeks (the 72nd best on the ATP tour) and slamming 31 winners to 11.
Džumhur was not able to break Cerúndolo's serve a second time and the men's singles number 18 seed only got stronger as the match raced along at a tremendous speed.
It was Cerúndolo's third consecutive win over Džumhur in little more than a six-month period, having also defeated him at the Paris Masters and the quarter-finals of a clay event in Båstad, Sweden.
“It’s good to play a guy that you’ve already beaten twice, since you already know how to win," Cerúndolo told Flashscore Australia after the win.
"I’ve played him on clay and on an indoor court, so not in these conditions but quite similar.
"I didn’t play my best in my last two matches against him but today I felt I played really good. I knew what my gameplan was and I think I executed it really well.”
Cerúndolo endured a difficult end to the 2025 season, having been eliminated in the early rounds of ATP events at Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna as well as a heart-wrenching defeat to Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Davis Cup, but the 27-year-old felt his results didn't tell the full story.
“I think the last two tournaments of 2025 I think I played well," Cerúndolo explained.
"In Paris, I had a good tournament but Jannik (Sinner) destroyed me. Then I won the UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Hong Kong), and even though that wasn’t an official tournament, I think I played good.
"In the Davis Cup it was a good match from my side. Even though we lost the tie we played really good and it was the end of a long year. Last think I played a good, fair match, even though I couldn’t get the win."
Cerúndolo began 2026 with a first round defeat to Spain's Jaume Munar, but told Flashscore he was still satisfied with his performance.
"I didn’t feel really good, but I was playing good tennis compared to previous years where my first match of the year in the last three or four years was horrible.
"This time I didn’t get the win, but I felt better on court, so I came here feeling good with the level of my game, but not as confident as I’d like.
"So it was important to get these two wins in straight sets."
On that occasion, he let the match slip in tight circumstances after comfortably winning the first set 6-3 against Munar, making his straight sets Australian Open victories against Zhang Zhizhen and Džumhur all the more pleasing.
"It’s very important to maintain that level and consistency throughout a match," Cerúndolo said.
"It’s something that I need to pick up on and maintain in more matches. It’s super important to win the first couple of rounds in straight sets because I’m physically okay and feel I can keep going with some rest.
"I felt really good today, felt really good the other day and I am super happy with my level so far.”
Cerúndolo's victory set up a tasty third round meeting with number 13 seed Andrey Rublev, a matchup that Francisco must have considered last week as he was able to recall the entire history of his favourable 3-1 head-to-head record over Rublev.
“It’s going to be a super difficult match for sure," he assessed.
"Three out of the four was on clay and one was on indoor and that was a super close match, 7-6 7-6.
"I know him very well and he knows me very well, so it’s going to be a super tough match for both of us and really close. I know what to do on court so I’ll try to play my best and see what happens.”