World number one Rafael Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.
The Spaniard made mincemeat out of world number 112 Berrer, marching through in just 67 minutes.
Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro and number seven Andy Roddick also advanced.
Nadal, who will play Dmitry Tursunov in the third round, broke Berrer in the first game and dominated the German from the baseline while outclassing him in every department.
”For me, it was perfect,” Nadal said. ”I played a very comfortable match.
”I had the break in the first game in both sets, so that’s really important. I felt well on court, playing good.”
Serbian third seed Djokovic was never at his fluent best but eased past Vassallo Arguello to book a clash with Tommy Haas.
After trading early breaks, Djokovic broke the Argentine’s serve for the second time in the 11th game, and served out for the set.
The vital break in the second set came in the seventh game and Djokovic held the advantage to clinch victory.
Djokovic has been struggling to repeat the form he showed in the first few months of 2008, when he won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and then triumphed in Indian Wells.
A switch in rackets in the off-season left him low on confidence but after winning the title in Dubai last month, the world number three believes he is getting back on track.
”The quality is there. The game is there. The fitness is getting much better. It’s just a mental ability to play the best tennis,” he said.
”I know that I cannot perform always my best tennis, but, again, my confidence has been raised in the last month and a half.
”I’m aware that still there needs to be some improvement, but I’m taking it step by step.”
Del Potro beat American Ryan Sweeting 6-7 6-3 6-1 while seventh seed Roddick ousted Austrian Daniel Koellerer 6-1 7-6.
”I played okay,” Roddick said. ”There’s certainly room for improvement, but a win is a win.”
Last year’s finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6 7-6 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, but David Nalbandian, David Ferrer, Nicolas Kiefer and Stanislas Wawrinka all advanced to the third round. – Reuters