ROME // Rafael Nadal hardly had to get his socks dirty to extend his winning streak to 16 matches.
Back to being the best player on tour over the past month, Nadal advanced from his opening match at the Italian Open when Nicolas Almagro retired in the first set with an apparent injury.
Top-ranked Angelique Kerber, meanwhile, lost her opening match to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-0.
Kerber joined Andy Murray, the top-ranked men’s player, on the sidelines after Murray’s loss to Fabio Fognini on Tuesday.
“Everybody knows I’m not a clay-court specialist,” Kerber said. “I was not playing good last year as well. I had a great year, but I mean, these few weeks I was not playing good. And this year it’s the same.”
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Venus Williams, the 1999 champion, eliminated Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-3.
Also, Olympic silver medallist Juan Martin del Potro defeated British player Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-4, fifth-seeded Milos Raonic defeated Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 and Alexander Zverev beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4 to face Fognini next.
“The stadium will be very loud for him. I’m very sure about that,” Zverev said of Fognini. “It’s going to be a fun day, a fun atmosphere and great match.”
Nadal was leading 3-0, 15-30 when Almagro bent over and grasped his left knee.
Nadal went over to Almagro’s side of the net to ask what was wrong and consoled his countryman. Almagro then got some medical attention at his chair but quickly retired from the second-round match.
“It’s difficult to see what’s going on now just after what happened,” Nadal said. “He felt something on the knee.”
The fourth-ranked Nadal remained on court for a practice session. Nadal has won consecutive clay-court tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. He is aiming for an eighth title in Rome as he prepares for the French Open, which starts in less than two weeks.
Nadal will next face 13th-seeded Jack Sock, who beat Jiri Vesely 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 after more than two-and-half hours.
Sharapova vows to ‘rise up’ after French Open snub
Maria Sharapova vowed to “rise up again” after she was refused a wild card for the French Open following a 15-month ban for doping.
The former world No 1 and two-time champion in Paris also earned the backing of the head of women’s tennis, a day after the French tennis federation’s announcement.
“If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it all the way, everyday,” Sharapova wrote on Twitter, in her first remarks on her snub.
“No words, games, or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many.”
The five-time grand slam champion, 30, was banned for two years for using meldonium, with the suspension later reduced.
* Agencies
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