Madrid Open: Rafael Nadal beats Andrey Kuznetsov

Ruthless Rafael Nadal maintained his ominous form on clay by beating Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets to reach the third round of the Madrid Open.

Nadal has claimed back-to-back tournament victories in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and the 14-time grand-slam champion started his quest to win a fifth Madrid Open title by seeing off unseeded Russian Kuznetsov 6-3 6-3.

The world number five produced a commanding service display and wound up his forehand with great effect, putting on a show for a partisan crowd to set up a third-round meeting with either Sam Querrey or Lucas Pouille.

Nadal won 80 per cent of points on his first serve and did not face a solitary break point, with one break in the first set and two in the second seeing him through as he eyes a 50th title on the red surface.

The fifth seed, beaten by Andy Murray in the final of this event last year, had won 10 matches in a row before taking to the court on Tuesday and made his presence felt by holding to love and breaking in the second game when Kuznetsov was long with a forehand.

Nadal did not allow Kuznetsov a way back in the first set and won four games in a row in the second to ease into round three and make it three wins out of three against the Barcelona Open quarter-finalist.