Nadal starts 2011 off impressively

DOHA, Qatar, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal rolled through his first ATP match of 2011, claiming a straight-set win at the Qatar Open's first-round play.

Nadal defeated Karol Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a solid performance in which he landed 70 percent of his first serves, was broken once and won 58 percent of the points on Beck's serve. Nadal lost only 13 points in the second set.

Roger Federer, second in the world, had a tougher route to his straight-set win. He was pushed to a first-set tie-breaker before escaping qualifier Thomas Schoorel, No. 168 in the world, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Federer managed to break Schoorel's serve only once and had to save six break-point chances.

Fifth-seeded Ernests Gulbis overcame a pair of service breaks in a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over Victor Hanescu and No. 8-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber advanced by the expense of Andreas Seppi, winning 6-2, 6-4.

Also Tuesday, Lukas Lacko took a tight 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-4) decision from Pere Riba, and Ivo Karlovic, who had 23 aces, also won a pair of tie-breakers and got by Lukas Rosol 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7).

Teymuraz Gabashvili advanced to the second round by beating Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) and Marco Chiudinelli edged past Reda El Amrani 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.