ATP Monte Carlo Masters: Rafa Nadal eases past Marinko Matosevic in Monte Carlo

Rafael Nadal extended his Monte Carlo Masters winning streak to an incredible 43 matches courtesy of a 6-1 6-2 second-round win over Marinko Matosevic.

The Spanish world number five made extremely light work of his Australian opponent to set up a third-round clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

The only time period during which eight-time defending champion Nadal, 26, struggled was at the start of the second set when he came close to trailing 3-0.

But he saved the break points and went on to quickly close out the match at the first opportunity with a pass down the line.

There were ironic cheers from the crowd when Matosevic claimed his first point after losing the first seven, and the 27-year-old milked the crowd's applause when he won his first game to pull back to 4-1 in the first set.
Successful return

Nadal, who spent seven months out of tennis because of injury, has made a successful return to competition by winning three out of his first four tournaments including the Indian Wells Masters Series last month.

Elsewhere, Austria's Jurgen Melzer was impressive 6-4 6-2 winner over 10th seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain and next faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka made short work of Albert Montanes, beating the Spaniard 6-1 6-1 to set up a third-round showdown with Andy Murray.

Meanwhile, Germany's Florian Mayer came through a tough three-set battle to beat another Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut 5-7 6-4 6-4.