Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal poses with playing cards depicting some of his 11 Grand Slam victories after an interview with Reuters in Madrid, September 18, 2012. REUTERS/Paul Hanna
MADRID (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal launched the defence of his Madrid Open title by breezing past Juan Monaco 6-1 6-0 on Wednesday to rediscover his touch on his favoured clay after surprise exits in his last two tournaments.
The world number one went out in the quarter-finals at both Monte Carlo and Barcelona last month, but his extra quality shone through in his second-round match against the 56th-ranked Monaco.
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