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Nadal marches into Round 3

Paris - Rafael Nadal has handed out a brutal French Open lesson to highly-rated Dominic Thiem on Thursday as Roland Garros took a breather from the shocks which have rocked the tournament.

Defending champion Nadal cruised to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory over his 20-year-old Austrian opponent to reach the third round.

Fifth-seeded compatriot David Ferrer, the runner-up in 2013, and Andy Murray, the seventh seeded Wimbledon champion, also cruised through.

Following the exit of world number three Stan Wawrinka and the defeats of women's top seeds Serena Williams and Li Na, Thursday at the French Open was a sedate affair.

Eight-time winner Nadal, bidding to be the first man to clinch five Roland Garros titles in a row, had been expected to face a severe test from world number 57 Thiem.

But the Austrian, who trains for big matches by running through forests carrying tree trunks to build stamina, ran out of steam on Philippe Chatrier court despite showing occasional glimpses of potential.

Nadal took his career record in Paris to 61 wins against a single loss and goes on to face Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

"Dominic is a dangerous player and I knew that if I wasn't playing well then I'd be in trouble," said Nadal.

"But he is a future star, 100 percent. His level of ball is very high, he is strong on the forehand and backhand. He has everything to be a big champion."

Thiem had beaten Australian Open champion Wawrinka in Madrid and gave 27-year-old Nadal plenty to think about in an eight-minute opening game.

But Nadal proceeded to pounce on Thiem's raw inconsistencies which saw the young Austrian break the Spaniard twice only to be broken himself seven times and commit 41 unforced errors.

Nadal's compatriot Ferrer cruised past Italy's Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Italy's Andreas Seppi.

Murray, a semi-finalist in 2011, brushed aside Marko Matosevic, the last Australian man in the tournament, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 and next faces experienced German player Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Murray has been linked with a host of names -- both men and women -- to become his next coach with the list even stretching to former women's number one Amelie Mauresmo.

"I've spoken to a few people, male and female. Right now in the middle of a tournament is not really the time when I'm sitting down and speaking to people and making phone calls," said the Scot.

Donald Young, the former world junior number one who has struggled to live up the huge hype surrounding him, made the third round for the first time by beating Spanish 26th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.

Young next plays Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain who knocked out Wawrinka in the first round.

Big-serving Ivo Karlovic followed up his defeat of 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov, which was his first in Paris in seven years, by defeating Austria's Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

Karlovic fired 24 aces and didn't face a break point as he made the third round for the first time.

The 2.11m (6ft 11in) Karlovic next faces 2.03m (6ft 8in) Kevin Anderson of South Africa who brushed aside Axel Michon, the world number 206 from France, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Looking to make the most of the shock defeats of Williams and Li in the women's draw, there were were comfortable wins for Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Jelena Jankovic.

Fourth-seeded Halep of Romania beat British qualifier Heather Watson 6-2, 6-4, Czech fifth seed Kvitova saw off New Zealand's Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-4 while Serb sixth seed Jelena Jankovic, three times a semi-finalist, eased past Japan's Kurumi Nara 7-5, 6-0.

Sloane Stephens, the 15th seed and top American following the defeat of defending champion Williams, beat Slovenia's Polona Hercog 6-1, 6-3.

Russian 27th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the champion in 2009, beat Italy's Camila Giorgi 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 while Serb 11th seed Ana Ivanovic, the winner in 2008, defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 7-5, 6-2

France's Kristina Mladenovic, who put out Li, made the third round for the first time with a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 win over Alison Riske of the United States.

Victories for Maria-Teresa Torro Flor and Silvia Soler-Espinosa, meanwhile, marked the first time since 2001 at any Grand Slam that four Spanish women made the last 32.

Results on Thursday at the French Open, the fifth day of the season's second Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Second round
Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Jurgen Zopp (EST) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Kevin Anderson (RSA x19) bt Axel Michon (FRA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Andreas Seppi (ITA x32) bt Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
David Ferrer (ESP x5) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Guillermo Garca-Lpez (ESP) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
Donald Young (USA) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP x26) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3
Gael Monfils (FRA x23) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1
Fabio Fognini (ITA x14) bt Thomaz Belluci (BRA) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2)
Richard Gasquet (FRA x12) bt Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4
Fernando Verdasco (ESP x24) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 4-6, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-4, 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x28) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
Andy Murray (GBR x7) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

Women

Second round
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Paula Ormaechea (ARG) bt Monica Niculescu (ROM) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Petra Kvitova (CZE x5) bt Marina Erakovic (NZL) 6-4, 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x27) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
Lucie Safarova (CZE x23) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Ana Ivanovic (SRB x11) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR) 7-5, 6-2
Sloane Stephens (USA x15) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-1, 6-3
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x22) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-4, 6-3
Mara Teresa Torr Flor (ESP) bt Magdalna Rybrikov (SVK) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Simona Halep (ROM x4) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-2, 6-4
Jelena Jankovic (SRB x6) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 7-5, 6-0
Sorana Cirstea (ROM x26) bt Teliana Pereira (BRA) 6-2, 7-5
Julia Glushko (ISR) bt Kirsten Flipkens (BEL x21) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Sara Errani (ITA x10) bt Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER) 6-2, 6-4
Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 6-2, 6-4
Kiki Bertens (NED) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x24) 5-7, 6-4, 3-0- retired (back)
Andrea Petkovic (GER x28) bt Stefanie Vgele (SUI) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) bt Alison Riske (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3

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