Defending champion Rafael Nadal and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer registered easy victories in their respective matches to cruise into the third round of the 2014 French Open.
Fifth seed Ferrer overpowered Italian qualifier Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour and 48 minutes. Ferrer was in complete control in the straight-set victory, and committed just 22 unforced errors and racked up as many winners.
The Spaniard fired four aces in the match and saved all four break points, while breaking the Italian's serve five times. Ferrer will next face either Bolelli's countryman Andreas Seppi or Argentina's Juan Monaco.
"I am ready for my next round against (Juan) Monaco (or Andreas) Seppi," Ferrer said. "I'm happy with my game. I played consistent without a lot of mistakes."
Ferrer will potentially face the King of Clay in the quarterfinals, if he managed to clear the next couple of hurdles.
"My season on clay has been good," Ferrer said, when asked about beating Nadal on clay this season. "I have a good feel but I'm focusing on the moment."
Meanwhile, eight-time French Open champion Nadal bulldozed his way into the third round, by demolishing Austria's Dominic Thiem in straight sets. Nadal was in complete control of the match and overwhelmed his opponent 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, in just two hours and five minutes.
What was earlier termed as a tricky battle for the world number one, turned out to be an easy affair as Nadal made full use of the 41 unforced errors committed by the young Austrian. Nadal will face either Argentine Leonardo Mayer or Georgian Teymuraz Gabashvili next.
"Dominic is a dangerous player and I knew that if I wasn't playing well then I'd be in trouble," Nadal pointed out. "But he is a future star, 100 percent. His level of ball is very high, he is strong on the forehand and backhand. He has everything to be a big champion."
Meanwhile, in the other second round encounter, Serbia's Ivo Karlovic got the better of Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Karlovic fired 24 aces, struck 50 winners and committed just 13 unforced errors, to register a straight-set victory over Haider-Maurer.
The Serb will now face 19th seed South African Kevin Anderson in the third round. Anderson defeated French wildcard Axel Michon 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to register his 30th win on clay.
Meanwhile, in the women's singles, former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia battled past Italy's Camila Giorgi 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round. Both players exchanged breaks in a tight first set but Kuznetsova capitalised on unforced errors to take the first.
The second set was an easy affair for the 27th-ranked Russian as she broke Giorgi once, and held her serve to seal the match. She will next face either fifth seed Czech Petra Kvitova or New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the third round.
Sixth seed Serbian Jelena Jankovic faced little resistance from Kurumi Nara in the second round as she outclassed her Japanese opponent 7-5, 6-0.
"It was not easy, she is returning a lot of balls and the court is heavy and the conditions generally are heavy," Jankovic said. "There are still a lot of great players in the draw every round is going to be tough. The opponents get more and more difficult."
