MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Grand Slam winning trio Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka all looked in sublime form as they progressed to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters with straight set victories Wednesday. Top seed Nadal, champion at eight of the last nine editions, took 72 minutes to beat Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili, who held a shock 3-1 lead early on, 6-4, 6-1. Federer, seeded fourth at a Masters event that he has never won, looked in top shape as he romped to a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of talented Czech veteran Radek Stepanek in 52 minutes. But Wawrinka, the third-seeded Australian Open winner, spent even less time on court, with his 45-minute match tying that of holder Novak Djokovic's opening win the day before as the Swiss hammered Marin Cilic 6-0, 6-2. Wawrinka won the first set in just 18 minutes, then “slowed” the pace. Nadal rallied after trailing early on against Gabashvili, and never looked like suffering what would only have been his third ever defeat at the event. The top seed — who moved to within one win of bringing up a half century of victories — won six games in a row on his way to claiming the opening set and reaching 4-0 in the second. A break by his opponent for 4-1 only delayed the inevitable, with Nadal getting the break straight back for 5-1 before taking the match on his first match point a game later. Nadal plays Italian Andreas Seppi in the third round after he defeated Pablo Andujar 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-4. Federer was pleased with his level of play against his 35-year-old opponent who has posed problems for several of the top 10 players this season. The Swiss — who revealed that were his wife to give birth to their third child close to the French Open which gets underway in five weeks time he would give the Grand Slam event a miss — will next play Stepanek's compatriot Lukas Rosol Thursday. Rosol beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4. Eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, No. 10 Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. 11 Tommy Robredo, No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and No. 15 Nicolas Almagro — both Spanish — also advanced to the third round. Raonic rallied to beat Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1; Fognini downed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4; Robredo won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Julien Benneteau of France; Dimitrov downed Spaniard Albert Ramos 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Almagro beat Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Grand Prix Hassan II winner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat No. 17 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 7-5, and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta next faces Novak Djokovic after winning 6-3, 7-6 (6) against Gael Monfils. Cibulkova advances In Kuala Lumpur, top seed Dominika Cibulkova finally got on court Wednesday and registered a crushing 6-1, 6-3 win over Turkey's Pemra Özgen in another rain-interrupted day at the BMW Malaysian Open. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Zarina Diyas was the first to book her place in the last eight, her first appearance in a quarterfinals of a WTA event in two years. The 20-year-old Kazakhstan starlet brushed aside Italian qualifier Giulia Gatto-Monticone 6-1, 6-4 in 72 minutes. — Agencies
