CINCINNATI (Ohio), July 31: Rafael Nadal sent another message that he has the world No 1 ranking in his sight as he began his campaign to win his sixth successive title by equalling his most emphatic victory on the ATP Tour.

A superb performance of heavy serving and varied follow-ups from the baseline by the Wimbledon and French Open champion overwhelmed Florent Serra 6-0, 6-1 and carried the Spaniard to the third round of the Cincinnati Masters Series.

Nadal has managed that scoreline only twice before — once this year and once in 2005.

French world No 84 Serra, who posted wins over top 10 players Nikolay Davydenko and James Blake last year, was forced to come up with a series of forceful drives to hold on to a service game at the fifth attempt and avoid a whitewash.

That game only very briefly halted the torrent which was pouring at the unfortunate Frenchman from a player in the finest form of his career, and it was all over in a mere 46 minutes.

The crowd rose to Nadal’s stunning, if all-too-brief effort.

However his performance made it clear that Nadal is now more than good enough to win in these fast hard court conditions, which he will need to do to become world No 1 for the first time this week, and which may increase the pressure on Roger Federer.The world No 1 from Switzerland struggled to survive his opening encounter on Tuesday against Robbie Ginepri, with the American at one stage serving to complete a straight sets win.

Federer next faces Ivo Karlovic, the Croatian who has served more aces and won more service games than anyone on the ATP Tour this year. Nadal plays Tommy Haas, the former world No 2 from Germany.

Two well-known names went out. David Ferrer, the fifth seed from Spain, and Richard Gasquet, the eleventh seed from France, were beaten by Nicolas Lapentti, the 31-year-old former top 10 Ecuadorian and Dmitry Tursunov, the hard-hitting Russian.

Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Florent Serra (France) 6-0, 6-1; Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) bt 11-Richard Gasquet (France) 7-6 (10-8), 6-0; 10-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Chris Guccione (Australia) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4); Igor

Andreev (Russia) bt John Isner (US) 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 7-5; Andreas Seppi (Italy) bt Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5; 3-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2); Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Gael Monfils (France) 5-1 – Monfils retired; 8-Andy Murray (Britain) bt Sam Querrey (US) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) bt 5-David Ferrer (Spain) 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3; Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) bt Arnaud Clement (France) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5); 7-James Blake (US) bt Gilles Simon (France) 6-4, 6-3.

IVANOVIC MOVES AHEAD

MONTREAL: World No 1 Ana Ivanovic battled her way into the third round of the Montreal Cup to keep her nose in front in the fight for the top ranking on Wednesday.

Number three Maria Sharapova, however, will take no further part after withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury following her win over Poland’s Marta Domachowska.

Playing her first event since a shock third-round exit at Wimbledon, Ivanovic arrived with her top ranking under serious threat from fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic and Sharapova.

Ivanovic opened her hardcourt campaign with a laboured 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Czech teenager Petra Kvitova while Jankovic, who had a chance to nudge her Davis Cup team mate out of the top spot last week in Los Angeles, dispatched local hope Aleksandra Wozniak 6-0, 6-4 to reach the last 16.

Sharapova, also back in action for the first time since Wimbledon, had a less than impressive hardcourt debut, serving up 17 double faults in a three-hour 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win over Domachowska.

The Russian twice required treatment on a right shoulder that has bothered her throughout the year, and said after the match she was withdrawing.

The Canadian hardcourt event has never ranked among Sharapova’s favourites, the Russian winning just one match in two previous visits and had not played in the event since 2004.

Ivanovic, meanwhile, showed signs of rust in her first competitive match in nearly a month, taken to break point six times in her opening two service games, none of which Kvitova could convert.

The French Open champion served nine double faults, surrendering the second set, before rebounding to sweep the opening five games of third to effectively seal the win.

Victories for Ivanovic and Jankovic meant they became the first players to qualify for the year-ending $4.4 million Sony Ericsson championships in Doha in November.

Results:

Second round: 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 6-0, 6-4; 3-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Marta Domachowska (Poland) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) bt Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Stephanie Dubois (Canada) bt 13-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4); 10-Marion Bartoli (France) bt Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) – walkover; 6-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) bt Jill Craybas (US) 6-2, 7-5; Michelle Larcher de Brito (Portugal) bt 15-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-3, 0-6, 6-3; Tamira Paszek (Austria) bt Melinda Czink (Hungary) 6-4, 7-5; 12-Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-3, 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Shahar Peer (Israel) 6-2, 6-2; 9-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-1, 7-5; 7-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Russia) 6-2, 6-4; 11-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Sybille Bammer (Austria) 6-2, 6-2.

—Reuters