Nadal wins again at French Open

PARIS, June 1 (UPI) -- Three-time men's champion Rafael Nadal of Spain won his match Sunday in straight sets at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris.

The left-handed clay-court specialist and No. 2 seed remained on pace to bag his fourth straight title at the Roland Garros tennis venue with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 rout of fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, the 22nd seed.

"I wish all my matches were like this one," Nadal told BBC Sports. "If I can rely on serve, then I'm relieved so then I can focus myself more on the baseline strokes."

Elsewhere, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, Nadal's next opponent, beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 in a match that lasted almost three hours; third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia topped another crowd favorite Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; and Latvian Ernests Gulbis was a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 winner against Michael Llodra" class="tpstyle">Frenchman Michael Llodra.