Cincinnati - Rafael Nadal kept his 2013 hard-court record unblemished, by posting a 6-2, 6-2 win over German Benjamin Becker to start his campaign at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.
Nadal has been red-hot on the hard-courts this year winning in Indian Wells and last week in Montreal.
The Spanish world number two went through in 76 minutes with four breaks of serve.