MONTE CARLO, April 18 - Rafael Nadal started the
defence of his Monte Carlo Open title by beating local favourite
Arnaud Clement 6-4 6-4 on Tuesday.
World number two Nadal, making a late start to his claycourt
campaign after a foot injury hit his schedule, looked a bit
rusty but did enough to reach the second round of the Masters
Series event.
Clement, who overcame Nadal in the semi-finals of the
Marseille Open in February before taking the title, troubled his
opponent with an early break in the second set.
Spaniard Nadal then had his right ankle strapped before he
fought back to level the set. He broke the Frenchman in the
ninth game to serve for the match.
The French Open champion earned two match points and wasted
the first before Clement hit a cross-court backhand wide to bow
out after 95 minutes.
Argentine sixth seed Guillermo Coria, the 2004 winner,
started his pursuit of a fourth consecutive final appearance in
the principality with a straightforward 6-3 6-1 victory over
Russia's Mikhail Youzhny.
Former world number one Marat Safin, struggling to recapture
his best form after a long injury break, made an early exit,
Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu beating him 6-0 7-5.
Russian Safin, who twisted his ankle in his semi-final
defeat by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in Valencia last week, lost
the first eight games and needed 44 minutes to hold serve for
the first time.
(Writing by Patrick Vignal in Paris)