Johanna Konta leads British charge on day two of Australian Open, as Rafael Nadal also progresses

Johanna Konta became the third British player to progress to the second round of the 2017 Australian Open following Andy Murray and Dan Evans' first round wins on day one of the tournament.

The world number nine put in an assured performance to beat experienced campaigner Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2 to progress to the next round. Konta will face Japan's Naomi Osaka in the second round after she overcame Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum in three sets.

The Briton, who began the season with a win at the Sydney International event, began her campaign in Melbourne with a positive performance. Konta was in front early in the first set and was serving at 5-4 before being broken. But she avoided the tie-break by breaking Flipkens immediately in the 12<sup>th game to take the first set 7-5.

The 25-year-old dominated the second set securing two breaks of serve before wrapping up the victory in 96 minutes. Konta won 76% of her first serve points and hit 23 winners during the course of her straight set win but admitted after that it was a tricky encounter to come through.

"It was incredibly tricky. She has the kind of game that can trouble any player," said Konta, as quoted by the BBC.

"I tried to play myself in to the match and I'm happy to be through. A lot has happened in the last year and I'm just enjoying playing and trying to get better every day."

Kyle Edmund has joined his fellow Britons in the second round after a straight sets win over Santiago Giraldo. The British number two came through 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 and will next face number 30 seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

Konta and Edmund's compatriot, Heather Watson, is also through after a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 defeat of 18th seed Samantha Stosur. Naomi Broady opens her campaign against Australia's Daria Gavrilova later on.

Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal progressed to the second round with a dominant 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Florian Mayer. The Spaniard is making a comeback after an injury plagued 2016 saw him cut short his season in October, and looked sharp during the two hour encounter against the German. He will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who came through after his opponent Mikhail Youzhny retired during the opening set of their match.