Nadael breezes into last 16 in Madrid, but some other seeds fall

MADRID, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Nadal enjoyed a comfortable win in his first match at the Mutua Madrid Masters tennis tournament on Wednesday, beating big-serving Frenchman Gail Monfils, 6-3, 6-1.

Playing in front of home crowd, the world number one and top seed in Madrid, needed just 73 minutes to book a place in the last 16 and once again showed his superiority on red-clay where he has won 48 consecutive sets with titles in Barcelona and Monte Carlo.

British number one, Kyle Edmund pulled off major surprise when he upset former World No. 1, Novak Djokovic in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to book a third round match against David Goffin.

Edmund, who reached the final of this year's Australian Open, had never previously won a set against the 10th seed, who is still working his way back to top form after a long battle with injuries, but needed one hour and 42 minutes to defeat the Serb.

With the match balanced one set each, Edmund crucially saved three break points before taking the crucial break in the final set.

The number 11 seed, Roberto Bautista Agut joined Djokovic in crashing out of the tournament as he was beaten 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 by German, Phillip Kolhschreiber, while number six seed Kevin Anderson progressed after a few scares with a 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory against qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin.

The women's defending champions and top seed, Simona Halep brushed past qualifier Krystina Pliskova 6-1, 6-4 in just 75 minutes, but the second seed Caroline Wozniacki surprisingly lost 6-2, 6-2 to Kiki Bertens, who is currently ranked 21st in the world. Enditem