Rafael Nadal fought off any lingering back soreness to storm past qualifier Michael Mmoh on Thursday for the loss of just seven games, reported AFP. The game also saw Nadal brush off a bizarre incident that saw a female fan thrown out.

Ever since arriving in Australia last month, Nadal has been struggling with tightness in his lower back. But on Thursday, he  showed few signs of it with the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena.

Nadal beat Mmoh 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a match interrupted in the second set when a woman was ejected after heckling him and directing rude gestures in his direction.

Nadal took it in his stride, grinning and playing football with the ball while he waited, seemingly enjoying having spectators, which has been a rarity during the pandemic.

When asked whether he knew the woman, he replied, “No, and honestly I don’t want to know. Maybe she take too much gin or tequila. I don’t know, but honestly was strange situation, but funny at the same time.”

He added, “Honestly, somebody doing the finger to me… I don’t know the reason, but I was surprised, but at the same time was thinking, ‘poor girl’, because probably she was drunk or something like this.”

Nadal will next play Britain’s Cameron Norrie in his quest for a 21st Grand Slam title. According to him, he is yet to completely recover. He said, “No, not under control, honestly. I keep doing the things that I can. If you see my motion on the serve is different than what I would like.”

He added, “But I am trying to find solutions every day. I just keep fighting to find a solution. I won two matches in straight sets. I have another opportunity to be on court in two days, and I have tomorrow to keep doing things and trying to find solutions for my back.”

Nadal has a perfect record against qualifiers at the Australian Open, where he has reached the round of 32 every time he has played, barring his shock first round exit in 2016.

He sent Serb Laslo Djere packing with little drama in the opening round and it was a similar story with Mmoh, whose father Tony twice played at the Australian Open.

After getting his measure in the first few games, Nadal pounced to break in the fourth and never looked back, racing through the set in 27 minutes.