Sony Open: Rampant Rafael Nadal storms through third round after defeating Denis Istomin 6-1 6-0

Nadal is bidding for a maiden title in Miami and will meet Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round

Rafael Nadal dropped just one game as he crushed Denis Istoman 6-1 6-0 (Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal cruised into the last-16 of the Sony Open as he conceded just one game in his 6-1 6-0 crushing of Denis Istomin.

The world number one, who suffered a shock early exit in his defence of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells two weeks ago, laid down an impressive marker as he bids to win a maiden Miami title.

He broke the helpless Istomin on six occasions and won 54 of 79 points in total, later admitting he was satisfied with his performance against the world number 57.

"I played a very complete match," he said on the ATP Tour's official website. "No mistakes, serving with good percentage, and playing a lot of winners.

"My movements were better than what I did in the last events."

Nadal, who has been runner-up in this tournament on three occasions, will next face Fabio Fognini after the Italian overcome Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6 6-3 6-3.

Nadal's conqueror in the Australian Open final in January, Stanislas Wawrinka, was given few problems as he too advanced to the fourth round following a 7-5 6-4 win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

"I'm happy the way I was fighting, the way I was positive in the game," the Swiss said. "Even if I was wasn't moving or playing so as well at the beginning, I stayed with him."

The world number three will next face Alexandr Dolgopolov after the 22nd-seeded Ukrainian came from a set down to defeat Dusan Lajovic 3-6 6-0 7-6 (7/5).

Seeded trio Tomas Berdych, John Isner and Milos Raonic also progressed through to the last-16 after comfortable wins.

Czech seventh seed Berdych eased past Joao Sousa 6-2 6-4, American Isner, seeded 10th, overcame Nicolas Almagro 7-5 6-3, while 12th seed Raonic thrashed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-2, with Benjamin Becker also through after seeing off Aljaz Bedene 6-3 7-5.

In the women's action, Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals as she recovered from a set down to beat Kirsten Flipkens.

The fourth seed was on court for two hours against the 19th-ranked Flipkens, losing the first set 6-3 before taking the next two 6-4 6-1.

Consistency has never been a problem for Serena Williams and she swept aside Coco Vandeweghe 6-3 6-1.

Her reward is a meeting with Angelique Kerber - a three-set winner over Ekaterina Makarova - while Sharapova's next opponent had a remarkable day.

Petra Kvitova lost the first set to Ana Ivanovic 6-3 but then rattled off two bagel sets to win 6-0 6-0 in a quite remarkable turnaround that saw Ivanovic double fault 10 times.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska was also taken to three sets but came through 7-6 (7/5) 5-7 6-2 against Elina Svitolina.

There were no such concerns for Li Na, with the second seed thrashing 15th seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0 6-2, while Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 11th, hammered Varvara Lepchenko 6-0 6-1.

PA