?Spain's Rafael Nadal returns to Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during their match at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco yesterday.

Rafael Nadal began his bid for a seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters title with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Jarkko Nieminen yesterday.

The top-ranked Spaniard, who next faces Richard Gasquet, did not face a single break point against the Finn and extended his winning record at the clay-court tournament to 33 matches. Nadal is 7-0 against Gasquet and beat him in the 2005 semifinals on the way to his first Monte Carlo title.

"Playing him on clay is very tough. He dropped very few sets here," said the 13th-seeded Gasquet, who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-1.

"What I must do is stay relaxed and try to play without hesitation and not be afraid to go for my shots.

"This is all very well, but when you're on the court, you're confronted with reality," Gasquet said.

Gasquet has lost three times on clay to five-time French Open champion Nadal.

"He always plays at 1,000 percent. He will not make the mistake of underestimating his opponent," Gasquet said. "Because we played many times, he knows me, and sometimes I pushed him to a third set."

Also, fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain easily beat Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-0, and No. 8 Gael Monfils of France defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-5, 6-2.

Ferrer, who had a first-round bye, displayed the potency of his serve at the picturesque Monte Carlo Country Club nestled between the cliffs and the Mediterranean Sea when he fired down three aces in a row to take a 5-0 lead in the second set.

Lopez looked demoralised, staring down at the red clay in disbelief while also seemingly troubled by a shoulder problem.

Eleventh-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, No. 15 Marin Cilic of Croatia and No. 16 Gilles Simon of France also advanced to the third round.

Troicki beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while Simon beat Albert Montanes of Spain 6-3, 6-4. Cilic was leading Pere Riba 5-2 when the Spaniard retired.