With a cheeky look on his face Nadal whispered "look" in Spanish, while nodding his head over to the napping journalist.

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The room burst with laughter and through giggles, Nadal said: "It is not interesting today ... Buongiorno (good morning) Ubaldo".

"Not a problem," Nadal went onto say in Italian as Scanagatta apologised.

It emerged on Scanagatta's own website UBITennis that the Italian was jet-lagged, having only arrived from Europe on Sunday afternoon.

"No, I know you was closing your eyes to be more focused on what I am saying," Nadal joked.

Nadal's 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 win over the Australian was the first men's clash on Rod Laver Arena for the tournament.

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The world no.2 won comfortably, but given the way his opponent Duckworth attacked the net following his big serve and the hot conditions, Nadal's job was made tougher at times despite the straight sets scoreline.

Nadal will face another Australian, Matt Ebden, in the second round on Wednesday. Ebden defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets on Monday.