MONACO (AP) Rafael Nadal began his bid for a seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters title with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Jarkko Nieminen on Wednesday.
The top-ranked Spaniard, who will face Richard Gasquet, did not face a single break point against the Finn and extended his winning record at the clay-court tournament to 33 matches.
Gasquet defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-1.
Nadal is 7-0 against Gasquet and beat him in the 2005 semifinals on the way to his first Monte Carlo title.
Playing him on clay is very tough. He dropped very few sets here,'' Gasquet said.What I must do is stay relaxed and try to play without hesitation and not be afraid to go for my shots. This is all very well, but when you're on the court, you're confronted with reality.''
Also, fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain cruised past Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-0, and No. 8 Gael Monfils of France defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-5, 6-2.
Ferrer broke his opponent's serve five times, while Lopez had six double-faults.
Eleventh-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, No. 15 Marin Cilic of Croatia and No. 16 Gilles Simon of France also advanced to the third round.
Troicki beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while Simon beat Albert Montanes of Spain 6-3, 6-4. Cilic was leading Pere Riba 5-2 when the Spaniard retired.