German second seed Alexander Zverev began his latest bid for a first Grand Slam title with a comfortable straight-set victory over French wildcard Lucas Pouille at the Australian Open.

The 27-year-old, who reached the semi-finals in Melbourne last year, cruised into the second round with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win.

Zverev, who faced just two break points against the 103rd-ranked Pouille, will play Spaniard Pedro Martinez next.

Former world number 10 Pouille, a semi-finalist in 2019, could have provided a potential obstacle for Zverev but it felt like the world number two still had plenty more gears to go through.

In recent years it has been a case of so near yet so far for Zverev when it comes to winning a major.

Last year he fell in the last four in Melbourne – losing to Russian Daniil Medvedev despite taking a two-set lead – and finished runner-up to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros, having reached the semi-finals on his previous three appearances in Paris.

But it was a clinical start from Zverev on Rod Laver Arena as he aims to win his first Grand Slam at the 36th time of asking and on his 10th appearance at the Australian Open.

Should he succeed in Melbourne, he would go joint-second alongside Stan Wawrinka of most attempts before winning a major title in the Open era.

Earlier on Sunday, Kei Nishikori, playing in Melbourne for the first time in four years, edged a five-set thriller against Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2 6-3.

Norwegian sixth seed Casper Ruud avoided becoming the first top-10 casualty at this year’s tournament by coming through in five sets against Spain’s Jaume Munar.

The 26-year-old, a three-time Slam runner-up, won 6-3 1-6 7-5 2-6 6-1.