Nadal wins opening match in Rome, will take on Kyrgios next

Spain’s Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the Rome Masters with a 63, 63 victory Wednesday night over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber and will next square off against young and talented Australian Nick Kyrgios.

The fifthseeded Nadal played at a high level against an opponent who had shown good form in winning Munich and reaching the semifinals in Barcelona in recent weeks, running his career mark against the German to 131.

The seventime Rome champion was sharp on serve and dominant from the baseline, showing further evidence that his claycourt game is in good shape heading into the French Open, which gets under way on May 22.

The 14time Grand Slam champion, who received a bye in the first round, lost his serve once in the second set, but that was a mere hiccup in a match in which he put 79 percent of his first serves in play and won 71 percent of his service points.

Nadal, however, could have a tougher test against the bighitting, 21yearold Kyrgios, who topped Milos Raonic 76 (75), 63 Wednesday for his third straight victory over the Canadian.

In other action Wednesday, Serbian world No. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic, who could be Nadal’s opponent in Friday’s quarterfinals, topped 35yearold Frenchman Stephane Robert 75, 75.

The tournament’s second and third seeds, Britain’s Andy Murray and Switzerland’s Roger Federer, defeated Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin and German teenager Alexander Zverev, respectively, in straight sets.

Ninthseeded Spaniard David Ferrer rallied for a 46, 75, 61 win over Italian qualifier Filippo Volandri.