Claycourt maestro Rafael Nadal swept to a 6-3 6-1 victory over Juergen Melzer in the second round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Nadal, chasing a sixth title of the season and a fourth on his best surface, was joined in the last 16 by Novak Djokovic, who beat Oscar Hernandez 6-3 6-3.
The 27th-ranked Melzer failed to carve out any break points against world number one Nadal, losing his own serve four times, and the Spaniard wrapped up the win on his first match point when the dispirited Austrian netted a limp forehand.
Nadal has only lost four times on clay in 152 matches since the beginning of 2005 and won three straight events on the surface at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome before coming to the Spanish capital.
He begins his quest for a fifth straight French Open crown at the end of this month and will play unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.
"It was a positive first match," Nadal, who had a bye into the second round, said at a news conference. "I think I played at a pretty decent level and starting in that way is always a good sign."
Djokovic won a second title of the year in his native Belgrade at the weekend after losing in the final of the Masters events in Rome, Monte Carlo and Miami.
The Serbian third seed took a nasty tumble at the start of the second set, slipping on the clay in the new Magic Box stadium and falling awkwardly. He recovered to break in the fifth and ninth games and sealed victory on his fourth match point when Hernandez went long with a sliced backhand.
FLYING BALLS
"Maybe result-wise it looked easy but it was not easy, that's for sure," Djokovic said at a news conference.
"Madrid is different from other tournaments in other cities because it's at altitude and the balls are flying quite a lot and you don't get a lot of control," he added.
"So I was trying to produce a lot of spin and get into the rhythm and I've done a pretty good job today."
Andreas Seppi is the Serb's opponent for a place in the last eight after the Italian beat American Sam Querrey 6-3 4-6 6-4.
Djokovic said he was lucky to escape unhurt after he slipped over against Hernandez.
"I was aware that the surface was quite wet after they watered the court at the end of the first set... I was lucky that I fell in the right way so it was not a major injury."
Number six seed Andy Roddick lost the first set to German qualifier Tommy Haas but edged the second set tie-break and grabbed his only break of the match in the third before clinching a 1-6 7-6 6-4 victory with his ninth ace.
The American will play Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the third round.
Roger Federer and Andy Murray will also be seeking last-eight places on Thursday.
Federer plays American 14th seed James Blake and Briton Murray takes on 16th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
