Refreshed after a fortnight's R&R, Alex de Minaur has returned to the court in winning style as top seed at the Rotterdam Open.
Runner-up at the past two editions in the Netherlands, de Minaur out-gunned heavy-hitting Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to power into the second round for a sixth straight year.
The world No.8 was playing his first match since losing to the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in last month's Australian Open quarter-finals.
De Minaur wasted little time in reminding the field why he is the player to beat this week after losing last year's final in three sets to Alcaraz and the 2024 title match to two-time Australian Open champion and then world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
Fils is among the most exciting young prospects in tennis, the 21-year-old cracking the world's top 15 last season, before being sidelined for eight months with a back injury.
But de Minaur had him well covered.
"It was never going to be easy. I told myself I was ready for a battle, up for the challenge, and excited for it," de Minaur said.
After a mammoth 80-match 2025 campaign, de Minaur opted to rest up after the season-opening grand slam in Melbourne, missing Australia's ill-fated Davis Cup qualifying loss to lowly ranked Ecuador at the weekend.
While Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt could have done with his inspirational spearhead in Quito, de Minaur displayed the benefits of his lay-off to extend his lead for the most ATP 500 wins since the start of the 2023 season.
He next faces either countryman Aleksandar Vukic or retiring Swiss great and 2015 Rotterdam champion Stan Wawrinka for a place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, seventh seed Tallon Griekspoor thrilled his home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 win over big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
With his 11th victory in Rotterdam, the 29-year-old tied Tom Okker for the fourth-most wins among Dutchmen in tournament history.
Griekspoor saved all six break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, against Mpetshi Perricard and fired 10 aces.
He next meets Quentin Halys after the Frenchman rallied past 18-year-old home qualifier Mees Rottgering 3-6 6-1 6-1 in one hour, 54 minutes.
German Jan-Lennard Struff crushed French qualifier Hugo Grenier 6-0 6-4 in just 64 minutes to book a second-round date with either Poland's Hubert Hurkacz or Kazakh third seed Alexander Bublik.
