Nadal turns back the clock with easy win

(REUTERS)

It is starting to feel as if the last 11 months never happened. Having gone nearly a year without winning a tournament, Rafael Nadal began his quest for a second successive title in typically robust fashion here yesterday.

A fortnight after his success in Monte Carlo, where he dropped just 14 games in his five matches, the 23-year-old Spaniard reached the last 16 of the Rome Masters with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Rome is the only other title Nadal holds after his injury woes of the last year and the world No 3 is clearly determined to hold on to what remains of his empire. Last week the king of clay pulled out of the Barcelona Open, one of his favourite tournaments, in order to give himself the best chance of lasting the pace this year. Even though he barely moved out of third gear yesterday, he is looking more and more like the player who was so dominant on this surface until his shocking defeat by Robin Soderling at last year's French Open.

Kohlschreiber, the world No 29, proved his own clay-court credentials two weeks ago with a crushing victory over Andy Murray, even if his opponent was clearly out of sorts. At last year's French Open the German beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

Victory was not as straightforward for Nadal as the scoreline might suggest. The Spaniard won the first set comfortably enough, but Kohlschreiber held his own at the start of the second. A lovely down-the-line winner gave him a point for a 4-2 lead, but he wasted it with a loose backhand.

Nadal was in no mood to offer a second chance. The defending champion held serve, broke in the following game with a lovely passing shot and converted his second match point when Kohlschreiber missed an easy forehand.

"It wasn't my best match, but I played safely and I did well," Nadal said afterwards. "Philipp tried to play more aggressively than he usually does and made more mistakes."

Next up for Nadal is the Romanian Victor Hanescu, followed by a possible quarter-final against Soderling, which would be their first meeting on clay since the French Open. Soderling, who has gone from strength to strength since that victory, lost to Fernando Verdasco in last weekend's Barcelona final. Both men maintained their form yesterday, Soderling beating Paolo Lorenzi and Verdasco putting out another Italian, Simone Bolelli.

Murray, having made a welcome return to form with his victory over Andreas Seppi on Tuesday, today faces the winner of last night's meeting between David Ferrer and Potito Starace. Victory would ensure that Murray reclaims the No 4 spot in the world rankings from Juan Martin del Potro, who has not played since the Australian Open because of a wrist injury.

Miles Maclagan, Murray's regular coach, is not here this week, though the Scot said that nothing should be read into his absence. Murray is working instead with Alex Corretja, the former world No 2, who has become an important part of his entourage during the clay-court season. Maclagan will be back for the Madrid Masters the week after next.

"Sometimes it's just nice to break it up," Murray said. "The practices I do with Alex are different to what I do with Miles. They both see my game the same way and they both have the same beliefs in what you have to do when you go out on the court. It's just about fighting hard and giving 100 per cent. If you do that the outcome is irrelevant. You need to be proud of the way you perform and fight.

"They've done well together. I think there are no egos there. I've worked with them for two years."