Top seeds advance in Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain, April 22 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal led a sweep of the top three seeds into the third round Wednesday at the Barcelona Open in Spain.

Nadal, the world's No. 1 player who won his third tournament of the year last week in Monte Carlo, coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Frederico Gil.

That set up a third-round matchup with Christophe Rochus, who pulled off a mild surprise when he defeated No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.

Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 decision over Nicolas Lapentti and No. 3 seed Nikolay Davydenko ousted Arnaud Clement 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Verdasco will next meet Tomas Berdych, who defeated Oscar Hernandez 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and Davydenko will take on Feliciano Lopez, who was a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Santiago Ventura.

Also surviving second-round encounters Wednesday were Tommy Robredo, David Nalbandian, Stanislas Wawrinka, Nicolas Almagro and Radek Stepanek.