Nadal charges into Rome Masters 3rd round

Rome, May 15 (EFE).- Spain's Rafael Nadal opened the defense of his Rome Masters title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 second-round victory Wednesday over Fabio Fognini.
The first-ever meeting between the two players was almost entirely void of drama, as Nadal broke the Italian's serve in the opening game and dictated play from the baseline throughout the contest.
Fognini had two chances to break the world No. 5's serve in the fourth game and level the first set at 2-2, but Nadal got out of trouble and then played at close to his highest level in finishing out the set without losing another game.
Nadal will next take on dangerous Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who has an 0-5 record against the Spaniard but has taken a set off him on all but one occasion, including at the 2010 edition of the Rome event.
Gulbis won his second-round match Wednesday in equally impressive fashion, dismissing Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1.
"(On Thursday), I play against an opponent who is very dangerous," Nadal said in the post-match press conference.
"He's playing well and he's having a great season. I had a tough match against him in Indian Wells this year... He's an aggressive player, big serve, big shots from the baseline, and I have to be playing great if I want to have any chance."
Nadal has won the Rome Masters six times in his career, including last year's tournament, and has reached seven straight finals this season since returning to the ATP Tour in February after a lengthy injury layoff.
The Rome event is one of the biggest clay-court tournaments on the ATP and WTA calendars and a key tune up for the French Open

Source: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/130515/nadal-charges-rome-masters-3rd-round