Rafael Nadal started his quest to win a fifth title this season with a clear 6-3 6-4 victory over world number 37 Benoit Paire at the Madrid Open. The Spaniard, who made his return from a knee injury in February, broke his French opponent once in each set to wrap up the match and advance to the third round.
The 26-year-old Spaniard is looking to win the Madrid tournament for a third time. "I'm taking things day by day and don't know if I'm in perfect shape or not," said Nadal, who could face Roger Federer in the semi-finals. "The important thing is that I am here in Madrid competing again after seven months out injured," added Rafa.
Nadal was given a code violation at 4-2 in the first set for taking too long to prepare himself between points at deuce, but that didn't seem to bother him too much as he went on to take the set. The Frenchman tried to fight back and had his only break point of the match with Nadal serving at 1-2 in the second set, but the Spaniard played extremely well in defence, as usual, and Paire was unable to take the game. Nadal then broke through at 4-4 before serving out.
Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych had to fight back from a set down to get past Poland's big server Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 6-3 6-2 while seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made the next round after two close sets. Andy Murray is set to return to the court on Thursday, when he takes on France's Gilles Simon in what could be the most exciting match of the day. Here are the odds for that clash at Bet365:
Andy Murray to win - 1/7
Gilles Simon to win - 9/2
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