Nadal rolls on at the French Open

PARIS, May 30 (UPI) -- Three-time men's defending champion Rafael Nadal recorded a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 rout of Finland's Jarkko Nieminen at the French Open in Paris on Friday.

The second-seeded Spaniard improved his record at Roland Garros to 24-0 all-time, has not dropped a set and has lost only 19 games at this year's Grand Slam clay-court event.

"Today I was tired," Nadal admitted after his latest triumph, which was completed Friday after a rain-out. "I have played three matches with three sets but for two days I was in the locker room."

Despite playing his third match in as many days, Nadal's record rose to 111-2 in his last 113 clay-court matches since 2005.

Other Friday winners during a week filled with rain delays were Ernests Gulbis, Frenchmen Florent Serra, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra and Spaniards Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdasco.

Late winners were Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the men's third seed, who topped American Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; and crowd favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu of France, who beat Argentina's Eduardo Schwank 6-2 6-3 3-6 7-6 (11-9).