Stefanos Tsitsipas smelled blood in the water early in his clash with Salvatore Caruso.

Later, he experienced it on the court.

The Greek sixth seed enjoyed the smoothest of starts to the Australian Open, barely getting out of second gear on Monday night to register a 6-0 6-2 6-3 win.

Things weren’t so comfortable for the Italian.

With the tips of the fingers on his playing hand taped, blood began to drip from Caruso’s hand early in the third set, making life tough for the world No.95.

Still, he managed to pull himself together to have his best set of the match while never really troubling his fellow European.

“Throughout the match, I was very stable, in the zone,” Tsitsipas said.

“The first set was perfect, almost perfect. I can’t remember the last time I won a set 6-0.”

While early days in the tournament, Tsitsipas is in line to face Novak Djokovic in a quarter-final which would mark their first meeting at a grand slam.