Rafael Nadal progressed to the third round of the Madrid Masters with a straight sets win over Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr.
World number three triumphs in front of Real Madrid stars
Home favourite Rafael Nadal progressed to the third round of the Madrid Masters with a straight sets win over Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, but was given a decent workout by the Ukrainian qualifier.
World number three Nadal triumphed 6-4 6-3 in the 'Magic Box' arena with Real Madrid heroes Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul and Zinedine Zidane all watching on.
But Dolgopolov Jr was far from overawed by the occasion and the 21-year-old showed enough to suggest he can become a force in years to come.
Nadal always held the upper hand after an early break in the first set, but his opponent's confident and powerful groundstrokes ensured he was not able to rest on his laurels.
But he did just enough in the second, clinching victory when a Dolgopolov Jr forehand clipped the net and landed long.
Nadal now faces another awkward opponent in the next round - big-serving American John Isner.
Isner fights back from brink
Isner looked in danger of biting the dust having dropped the first set of his match against Colombian Santiago Giraldo and struggled into a tie-break in the second.
But he held his nerve to take that 10-8 and then proved too strong in the decider, emerging victorious 6-2.
Four seeds did depart, though, Andy Roddick withdrawing after succumbing to a stomach virus, number 10 Mikhail Youzhny losing to Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 and number 16 Thomaz Bellucci beaten by Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2 6-2.
Later, seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired from his match against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez after receiving lengthy treatment on his lower back with the Spaniard having taken the first set 6-2.
Oscar Hernandez, who took Roddick's place, made little impact against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, losing 6-1 6-2.
In other second-round matches, 15th seed Stanislas Wawrinka set up a third-round showdown with world number one and Swiss compatriot Roger Federer after getting past Leonardo Mayer, who was trailing 6-4 4-2 when he retired.
Eighth seed Marin Cilic had few problems in seeing off Eduardo Schwank 6-3 6-0, while 12th seed Gael Monfils booked his spot in the third round when German opponent Philipp Petzschner retired with the scores at 1-1 in the first set.
