Wednesday 16 April 2014 22:29, UK
Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters with a 6-4 6-1 win against Teymuraz Gabashvili.
The eight-time champion dropped his opening service game and was even in danger of going a double-break down in the first set, but came back to dominate the contest.
Gabashvili played aggressively behind his big forehand from the start and would have taken a 4-1 lead if he had managed to convert a break point in the fifth game.
Once Nadal had escaped that scare he began to take control and won 10 of the next 12 games to complete the win in an hour and 12 minutes.
The top seed did drop serve again in the second set but Gabashvili otherwise failed to make things competitive.
Nadal, who won 48 straight matches in Monte Carlo before losing to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, will face Andreas Seppi next after the Italian defeated Pablo Andujar 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-4.
Nadal could face Girgor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals after the 12th seed fought back from a set down to clinch a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win against Albert Ramos on Wednesday.
