Cheered on by 200 Israeli and Jewish fans in Melbourne, Sela and Granollers looked evenly matched in the first set, which went to 5-5, before the Spaniard pulled away to win 7-5.
But Sela was unstoppable after that breaking Granollers twice to take the second set 6-3 before cruising through the next two sets 6-2, 6-0.
He now has a great chance of reaching the third round of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year. He will play Slovakia's Lukas Lacko in the second round. Although ranked only 121 in the world, Sela will be wary of Lacko who upset 26th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round in a five set thriller.
Sela has started the season in stunning style. Last week he moved up 20 places in the ATP rankings to 67 after winning the Canberra Challenger – the 31-year-old Israeli's 21st Challenger title. This following a strong performance in India where he reached the semi-final of the Chennai Open.
Diego Schwartzman of Argentina also made a winning start in Melbourne, beating 22nd seed Pablo Cuevas in straight sets.
