Madrid - Spanish clay king Rafael Nadal put aside his tournament complaints to score a resounding opening win as he hammered out a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Juergen Melzer to reach the third round Wednesday. "I played much better than I trained," admitted Nadal. "I'm very happy with this match, and very pleased with how I have started the tournament. It is always a special pleasure to play in Spain."
The world number one easily claimed his 31st consecutive victory on the dirt, a run which lifts his clay record since 2005 to 148-4 with a 25-1 record in clay finals.
The Spaniard is hoping that the 500-metre altitude won't throw off his form as he heads to sea-level Paris for a run at a fifth straight title at Roland Garros starting a week from Sunday.
His last clay defeat came to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round in Rome, May 7, 2008. He is 17-0 on clay this year and has claimed five in a row at Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
The outspoken Nadal had voiced concerns about the state of the courts and the altitude at the weekend, to the dismay of officials.
But he turned in a near-perfect performance with just three unforced errors in 61 minutes as he set up a Thursday match with Philip Kohlschreiber, who beat 13th seed Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2) in slightly less than three hours.
Third seed Novak Djokovic squeezed out a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Oscar Hernandez, taking a tumble on a wet court early in the second set but emerging unscathed.
Djokovic called for repairs after he failed to find his footing. I was aware that the surface was quite wet after they were watering the court after the set and I was thinking that something could happen."
The 65th-ranked Hernandez was put out in just over 90 minutes with three breaks from 12 opportunities and 28 unforced errors almost balanced by 23 winners.
Djokovic is fighting to recover his long-time third ranking after Andy Murray stole it from him at the start of the week.
The Serb, who won his home event last week in Belgrade, next faces Italian Andreas Seppi, who beat American Sam Querre 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
"To be honest, it really motivates me even more to get back to the third spot or even go a step further. But I try not to pay too much attention to rankings."
Fifth seed Juan Del Potro won through into the third round when Czech Tomas Berdych quit trailing 6-2, 4-1. The Argentine next plays Swiss 11th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, a winner over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, 6-4, 7-5.
Number eight Giles Simon of France ousted Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2. American James Blake carried on the form which took him to the Estoril fin
