Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round yesterday as fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro was forced to quit with a left knee injury during their match at the Rome Masters.
Three-time French Open quarter-finalist Almagro — he lost all three to Nadal — was unable to continue after 24 minutes while trailing his compatriot 3-0 in the first set.
It was a 50th win for Nadal in Rome and he is on a hot streak after sweeping the honours on clay at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and last weekend in Madrid.
“I am happy with almost everything, I am playing well. I won a lot of matches this year,” said the fourth seed, who next faces either Jack Sock or Jiri Vesely as he builds up to Roland Garros.
“There is always things to improve, but it is not the right time to say I’m not happy with one thing or another.
“I am happy with everything. But always there is the motivation to keep going and to keep improving something.”
Nadal though was distressed to see Almagro injured.
“It’s difficult to say something because we need to wait a couple of days. It’s difficult to see what’s going on now just after what happened,” he said.
Joining Nadal in the next round was Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori, winner over Spain’s David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2.
Meanwhile defending champion and world number one Andy Murray was swept aside by home favourite Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open on Tuesday, being completely outplayed in a 6-2 6-4 defeat.

World number one Kerber crashes out
In women’s play, world number one Angelique Kerber crashed out, the top seed beaten 6-4 6-0 in the second round by Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.
The German’s 56-minute knock-out came two days after she was confirmed at the top of the WTA rankings, displacing Serena Williams after making it to the third round at last week’s Madrid Open.
Second seed Karolina Pliskova beat Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-1, Madrid winner Simona Halep started with a win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-4 and eighth seed Elina Svitolina put out Alize Cornet 6-4, 7-6 (13/11).

Selected ATP and WTA results (x denotes seeding)
Men 2nd rd)
Alexander Zverev (GER x16) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-3, 6-4
Milos Raonic (CAN x5) bt Tommy Haas (GER) 6-4, 6-3
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) bt Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 3-0 - retired
Kei Nishikori (JPN x7) bt David Ferrer (ESP) 7-5, 6-2
Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR) 7-5, 6-4
Milos Raonic (CAN x5) bt Tommy Haas (GER) 6-4, 6-3 
Jack Sock (USA x13) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1)
Women
2nd rd
Anett Kontaveit (EST) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x1) 6-4, 6-0
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x12) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 7-6 (7/4), 6-2
Simona Halep (ROM x6) bt Laura Siegemund (GER) 6-4, 6-4
Venus Williams (USA x9) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 6-4, 6-3
Julia Goerges (GER) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 2-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1
Elina Svitolina (UKR x8) bt Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (13/11)