PARIS — Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal both advanced to the third round of the Paris Masters Wednesday, each winning in straight sets.
The second-seeded Murray beat 18-year-old Croat Borna Coric 6-1, 6-2, while the seventh-seeded Nadal defeated Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol 6-2, 6-2.
Murray won 84 percent of his first-serve points and broke Coric twice in each set. Coric, regarded as one of the rising stars of tennis, beat Murray 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships in February.
"I lost to him quickly last time and today it was very different," Murray said. "I hit the ball well and I was able to defend, too, which is a pretty important part of my game."
Murray will next play 16th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium, who beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2. Murray and Goffin will also face each other later this month in the Davis Cup final.
"Goffin's very solid, for the last 18 months he's been extremely consistent," Murray said. "He's got good hands and he's quick around the court."
Nadal was in trouble when he played Rosol in the first round of the Swiss Indoors last week, with the Czech winning the first set 6-1 and serving for victory at 5-4.
There was no drama this time. Nadal broke Rosol in the second game and held for 3-0 after saving a break point — the only one he faced in the match.
Nadal clinched the first set when Rosol's wild, two-handed backhand sailed wide, and then earned the victory on his second match point when Rosol's forehand went wide.
Nadal, who lost to Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final on Sunday, will next play either 11th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa or Dominic Thiem of Austria.
No. 6 Kei Nishikori of Japan, No. 10 Richard Gasquet of France, No. 13 John Isner of the United States and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria also advanced.
Nishikori produced a storming final set to defeat home hope Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-1.
Nishikori goes on to face another Frenchman, 10th seed Gasquet, who eased past Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-2, 7-5.
In other second round match-ups, Dimitrov upset former US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2).
No wonder Novak Djokovic looked awkward in the early rallies of his opening match at the Paris Masters.
The top-ranked Serb, a two-time defending champion in Paris, was playing his first indoor match in a year — and on a revamped court at a refurbished venue.
That did not prevent him from advancing to the third round in straight sets, extending his winning streak to 18 matches with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Thomaz Bellucci Tuesday.
The 10-time major champion will face 14th-seeded Gilles Simon in the third round.
Vinci beats Kuznetsova
US Open finalist Roberta Vinci won her first match at the WTA Elite Trophy, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday.
One break in each set proved enough for the fourth-seeded Italian, who saved all three break points she faced.
On Thursday, Kuznetsova will face Caroline Wozniacki, needing victory to keep alive her hopes of advancing.
In Wednesday’s other singles match, third-seeded Karolina Pliskova beat Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Pliskova will next meet Sara Errani in her final round robin match on Thursday.
The tournament brings together 11 of the top players who did not qualify for last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore, including Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams. Zheng Saisai of China was added to the field as a wild-card entry.
The qualifiers compete in a four-group round robin format, with the winners of each group advancing to the semifinals.
