Nadal, the 3rd seed, defeated countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.  Nadal, 18, the runner-up at last week's NASDAQ-100 tournament in Miami, next faces Russian Igor Andreev, a straight-set winner over Potito Starace of Italy 7-5, 6-1.

Meanwhile, three-time French Open winner Gusavo Kuerten of Brazil lost his second round match to Alberto Martin of Spain 6-2, 6-0.  Kuerten had been out of action since undergoing hip surgery in September.  Martin faces the winner of a second-round match between Spain's David Ferrer and Irakli Labadze of Georgia.

The clay-court tournament is one of several warm-up events ahead of the second major tournament of the year, the French Open, which starts May 23 in Paris.