MONTE CARLO: Rafael Nadal is back on the clay he loves so much, and he looks like his old self again.

Nadal, having a mediocre 16-5 record this year, got the flawless start he was hoping for on Wednesday here at the Monte Carlo Masters, beating 21-year-old wild-card entry Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-1 in the second round.

The switch to clay was also enjoyable for second-seeded Roger Federer and defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who won his maiden Masters tournament last year at the Country Club.

Nadal won eight consecutive titles in Monte Carlo from 2005-12 but has been struggling recently, dropping to fifth in the rankings. Now in the European clay-court season, the nine-time French Open champion is biding to regain his old form ahead of another shot at the title at Roland Garros.

On Wednesday, the 14-time Grand Slam champion was in total control. He limited his mistakes to five unforced errors and did not face a single break point against an opponent ranked 108th by the ATP.

A forehand passing shot gave Nadal a 3-1 lead in the second set, and he broke again in the sixth game before serving out the match at love.

Nadal will face a trickier test in the next round against big-serving John Isner, who lost a memorable five-setter to the Spaniard in the first round of the 2011 French Open.

The seventh-seeded Wawrinka produced a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win over clay-court specialist Juan Monaco to join Nadal in the third round, while Federer spent less than one hour on court in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jeremy Chardy.

Federer, who has changed his schedule this year to allow more time for recovery and training, played his first match since his loss in the Indian Wells final in March. He did not look rusty, hitting 19 winners to dispatch an opponent who beat him last year in Rome.

The 17-time major champion takes on Gael Monfils for a spot in the quarter-finals, just five months after the Frenchman beat him in straight sets in the Davis Cup final.

Against Monaco, Wawrinka won 15 of the first 20 points and broke twice to build a 5-1 lead before serving out the first set at love.

After conceding only two points on his serve in the opener, Wawrinka was made to work harder in a second set featuring five breaks of serve.Next up for Wawrinka will be ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4.

Milos Raonic progressed with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Joao Sousa, with Jo-Wilfied Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Robredo and Gilles Simon also advancing to the third round.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2015

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