Summary Rafael Nadal beat Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open.
MADRID (AP) - Rafael Nadal swept past Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Nadal landed nearly 80 percent of his first serves and athletically recovered some seemingly impossible shots in a match which Paire stretched to nearly 90 minutes.
Nadal s hopes of returning to the top four in time for the French Open were boosted by Novak Djokovic s shock exit from Madrid on Tuesday.
Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic beat Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-7 (3) 6-3, 6-2 and Kei Nishikori of Japan downed Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-5, 6-2.
In women s play, Ekaterina Makarova of Russia ousted third-seeded Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round.
Azarenka, runner-up in Madrid the past two years, lost her temper, broke her racket and argued with chair umpire Mariana Alves.
She berated Alves after picking up a second code violation for smashing her racket in the third set.
"After all you ve done, how are you still in the game?" Azarenka shouted at the official while on court.
Azarenka said she felt confused by some refereeing decisions.
"I didn t understand what happened, what I did," she said. "I was very sure that I didn t have a code violation, that s why I broke my racket."
The Belarusian double-faulted five times and made only just over half of her first serves, compared to a 60 percent first-serve accuracy for Makarova.
"I played more against myself, trying to prove to myself certain things, more than I was focusing on my opponent," Azarenka said.
Azarenka, who missed Indian Wells and the Miami Open in March due to an ankle injury, said she still felt rusty but was happy there was still one clay tournament Rome before heading to Roland Garros.
"I have been making mistakes," she said. "But that s what comes after not playing for a long time. I still have another tournament before the French Open to compete in."
