Nadal extends clay streak to 68 matches

BARCELONA, Spain, April 25 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Rafael Nadal Wednesday won his 68th consecutive match on a clay court in posting a second-round win at the Open Seat tennis tournament in Spain.

Nadal breezed through a 6-1, 6-2 match with Kristof Vliegen on action at the Barcelona Tennis Club. Nadal dropped just four points on his serves. He won his third consecutive Monte Carlo Masters last week and is shooting for his third consecutive Open Seat event this week.

He advanced to a third-round match against Thomas Johansson, who upset 13th-seeded Robin Soderling 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).

Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko needed a third set to get past Yuri Schukin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 while No. 5 David Ferrer was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Paul Goldstein.

Also Wednesday, sixth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen stopped Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5; No. 8 Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Vincent Spadea 6-3, 6-3 and seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero retired with a stomach problem allowing Pablo Andujar to advance.

Other winners Wednesday were Guillermo Canas, Filippo Volandri and Carlos Moya.