Canada's Milos Raonic serves against France's Lucas Pouille during their men's singles match on day two of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 19, 2016.PAUL CROCK/AFP / Getty Images
Canadian Milos Raonic followed up his victory at the Brisbane International with a clinical, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 first-round win over Lucas Pouille on Monday at the Australian Open.
Raonic, who at No. 13 has his lowest seeding at a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon 2013, is aiming to improve on his run to the quarter-finals here last year, when he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
The 25-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., who recently started working with former No. 1-ranked Carlos Moya as a coach, didn't face a breakpoint on his serve and had little difficulty in winning 89 per cent of points on successful first serves.
He also won points on 22 of his 30 trips to the net. Pouille, a 21-year-old Frenchman, entered the match with a 1-7 record in Grand Slam matches and with a No. 90 ranking.