Nadal storms through to French Open third round

PARIS: Two-times champion Rafael Nadal showed no mercy on Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla, sweeping him aside 6-2 6-1 6-4 to reach the third round of the French Open on Thursday.   

World number two Nadal, attempting to become the first man to win three successive titles at Roland Garros since Bjorn Borg in 1980, was in control straight away, opening up a 3-0 lead in the first set.   

Leading 5-1, the Spaniard was then broken but he underlined his determination by capturing Cipolla's serve immediately to take the set in 34 minutes   

The second set was even more one-sided, Nadal going 3-1 up, breaking Cipolla again in the sixth game before serving for the set, which he took courtesy of an astute dropshot.   

The 20-year-old Nadal, whose 81-match streak on clay was ended by Roger Federer in the Hamburg final earlier this month, slowed down a bit after an early break but did enough to stay in control until he earned three match points.   

A super cross-court forehand winner on the first ended world number 227 Cipolla's suffering in a one-sided contest that lasted under two hours.   

Powerful left-hander Nadal, favoured to challenge world number one Federer in the June 10 final, will next meet fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes or Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.