Roger Federer and defending champion Stan Wawrinka rolled to quick-fire opening wins at the Monte Carlo Masters as Rafael Nadal joined the Swiss pair with a solid start.
Second-seed Federer, a three-time runner-up in Monaco, took just 54 minutes to dominate Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-1.
For third-seed Nadal, his 6-2, 6-1 second-round success against French wild card Lucas Pouille came as a huge relief after a poor season and just one trophy to hand since winning a ninth French Open title last May.
The 28-year-old Spaniard spent 68 minutes in proving that he will not roll over on his preferred surface even after a month of poor hard-court results and a general lack of confidence after his ranking fell to fifth.
“I don’t know how many unforced errors I made during the whole match, but for sure almost none,” Nadal said.
“I played with the right mentality, the right concentration. I didn’t make consecutive mistakes. That’s something that happened the last couple months with me.”
Wawrinka kicked off his week with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Argentine Juan Monaco in 71 minutes to progress.
The seventh seed, who lifted his first elite Masters 1,000 title in Monaco a year ago when he beat compatriot Federer, spent 71 minutes in getting past Monaco. Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open winner, will next face ninth-seed Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4.
Wawrinka comes onto the spring clay with a 17-4 record and titles in Chennai and
Rotterdam.
The 30-year-old Swiss successfully defended a title for the first time in January, winning Chennai for the second year in a row.
Czech sixth-seed Tomas Berdych beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 7-6 while Gilles Simon, seeded 10th, defeated fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-4, 7-5.
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