Wednesday 9 May 2018 22:50, UK
Rafael Nadal opened his Madrid Open campaign with a dominant 6-3 6-1 victory against Gael Monfils to maintain his perfect clay court campaign this season.
Nadal has already won titles at Monte Carlo and in Barcelona and extended his record to 48 consecutive sets won on clay with progress past the Frenchman in one hour and 13 minutes.
The Spaniard is chasing a sixth title in Madrid and despite Monfils' best efforts never appeared in great difficulty as he recorded a sixth consecutive victory over the fellow 31-year-old.
Nadal was forced to save a break point in his opening service game and immediately broke his opponent in the following game before maintaining his advantage to secure the first set.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion initially saw three break points at the second set go wasted but eventually secured the break and doubled his advantage when Monfils netted a weak backhand in the fifth game.
Nadal, who saved all three break points on his serve during the contest, maintained his dominance to close out the contest and set up a third-round meeting against Diego Schwartzman after the diminutive Argentinean defeated home favourite Feliciano Lopez 7-5 2-6 6-2.
John Isner overcame countryman Ryan Harrison in two tiebreak sets to secure a third-round meeting with Pablo Cuevas, who edged past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 6-7(2-7) 6-2.
Leonardo Mayer enjoyed a routine 6-2 6-1 win against Fernando Verdasco and will either face second seed Alexander Zverev or Evgeny Donskoy in their last-16 meeting.
The Masters 1000 Series continues throughout the week with our coverage of the ATP Madrid Open live on Sky Sports. Join us from 11am on Thursday, on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event.
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