Rafael Nadal wins opening match in Rome and faces John Isner next

Rafael Nadal began his quest for a record eighth Rome trophy with a crushing 6-2 6-0 victory over Marsel Ilhan.

Nadal, seeded down in fourth, was never really tested against the 87th-ranked Ilhan from Turkey, who he faced for the first time.

After dropping out of the top five in the rankings this week for the first time in 10 years, Nadal will next meet 16th-seeded John Isner.

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The tall American continued to play outside of his comfort zone on the clay but still sent over 11 aces in a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 defeat of Argentine Leonardo Mayer.

Nadal is 5-0 against Isner but needed three sets to beat the 6-foot-10 American in Monte Carlo last month, and had to come back from two sets down against him during the first round of the 2011 French Open.

"He's difficult to play against," Nadal said. "You dont have a lot of control on the things that are going to happen. If he serves well then you are in trouble. I have to play with no mistakes when I'm serving."

Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori won his opening test four days after falling in a Madrid semi-final to Nadal, with Asia's top player defeating Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.

Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez accounted for Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-3.

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