Rafael Nadal produced another imposing display of claycourt tennis at Roland Garros to crush Argentinian Leonardo Mayer 6-2 7-5 6-2 and reach the last 16 of the French Open.
Seeking to become the first man to win five straight titles in Paris and the first to win nine times at the same grand slam, Nadal has lost just 19 games in getting to the last 16.
At the same stage last year en route to his eighth French Open title, Nadal had dropped two sets and lost 48 games.
Mayer, ranked 65th in the world, had little to offer as Nadal led from the start and was able to play well within his limits and still race away with the match.
The only blip came in the eighth game of the second set when Mayer broke for the first time in the match to level at 4-4.
But minutes later Nadal snuffed out any nascent threat to go two sets clear and the outcome was a formality after that.
The Spaniard’s record at Roland Garros since 2005 is now 62 wins for one loss, that coming against Robin Soderling of Sweden in a 2009 fourth round match.
Next up for the Spaniard, who will turn 28 on Tuesday, is little-known Serb Dusan Lajovic, who saw off American hope Jack Sock 6-4 7-5 6-3.
Asked if he would asking for advice on how to tackle Nadal from fellow Serb Novak Djokovic, Lajovic wryly replied: “Yeah, I will try to ask everybody some tips against Rafa.
“You need to have a lot of tips and confidence to beat him, but I hope to enjoy the match if he wins and to give my best.”
The man Nadal defeated in last year’s final, fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, also reached the last 16 by defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
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