MONACO -- Seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic got their clay-court seasons off to a good start with comfortable wins in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
Djokovic opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Andreas Seppi of Italy and his archrival Nadal followed up by beating Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-3.
"I thought I was really focused first set. I had a tough opponent, obviously, a quality opponent that plays good on clay," Djokovic said. "For the first match (on clay) since Roland Garros last year, it was satisfying."
Nadal looked a bit rusty at times after not playing a match for three weeks to rest and treat his troublesome left knee.
"I played a really normal (average) match, nothing special. Nothing very bad, but nothing very good," said Nadal, who improved his overall record here to 40-1, including 38 straight wins. "First match on clay after long time without touching a racket."
He broke Nieminen's serve four times, and had the match closed for him when the Finn double-faulted.
The Spaniard, who has not won a title since last year's French Open and has lost seven straight tournament finals to Djokovic, next plays Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin.
Nadal's last match was against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals. He pulled out of his semifinal against Andy Murray to get treatment for a knee tendon problem, having skipped a chunk of the season to rest his knees following the Australian Open.
"I need practice, and today was a good practice," Nadal said. "Tomorrow (is) going to be another tough match against a player who is dangerous."
Nieminen's heavy forehand pushed Nadal well back at times, and the Spaniard was broken for the first time when serving for the match at 5-2.
Since 2005, Nadal has won at Monte Carlo and Roland Garros every year except '09.
Source: http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=393510
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