Matteo Berrettini wasted no time getting down to business on Monday morning, beating Aussie wildcard Andrew Harris 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in their opening-round clash.

“It’s always tough because my last official match was in November,” the eighth-seeded Rome native said following his victory.

“I figured out how to play my best tennis, so I’m really happy with my performance.

“Like always, I’m going round by round… I’m happy that I’m healthy and playing well.”

Berrettini dominated the baseline exchanges at Melbourne Arena, converting five of nine break points and hammering 38 winners.

A huge forehand on match point wrapped up the victory after one hour and 55 minutes.

The game gave 23-year-old Berrettini his first win of the season and first career victory in Melbourne.

The man voted as Most Improved Player of the Year in the 2019 ATP Awards will next face American Tennys Sandgren or Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti.

Meanwhile, young gun Jannik Sinner narrowly missed out on a victory against qualifier Max Purcell, with their match suspended due to rain.

The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion led 7-6(2), 6-2, 4-4 on Monday when play was suspended.

When the match resumes, 18-year-old Sinner will attempt to win his Australian Open debut and earn his first Grand Slam victory.

Sinner has quickly emerged as a talent to watch and has become one of the most talked about youngsters in the tennis world.

A skiing champion in his youth who grew up in the mountains of South Tyrol near Austria, he is the only 18-year-old in the world’s top-200.

Even Roger Federer has lauded the young Italian.

“He has great footwork for a big guy and then he can play again like most of the best movers in the world right now, he can play open stance and close stance, which I think is a huge advantage for movement in the future,” Federer said.

 “I think we’ll see so much more from him.

“He’s an exciting guy and a super sweet kid.”

Two other Italians were forced to suspend play due to the rain on Monday: Stefano Travaglia, who was losing to Chilean Cristian Garín 4-7, 3-6, 1-1, and Fabio Fognigni, who was also trailing to American Reilly Opelka 3-6, 6(3)-7(7), 0-1.

Meanwhile, Maria Trevisan was defeated by American Sofia Kenin, 2-6, 4-6.

During the night session, Salvatore Caruso was defeated by Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas, who produced a near flawless performance on Margaret Court Arena.

Tsitsipas won 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in just over 100 minutes.

The Greek has been tipped as a potential winner in Melbourne should Novak Djokovic not retain his crown.