Nadal powers into French Open third round

Holder Rafael Nadal continued his march towards a record-breaking seventh French Open title with a 6-2 6-2 6-0 demolition of Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the second round on Thursday.

The second-seeded Spaniard tormented his 43rd-ranked opponent with his mix of power and accuracy to seal victory in less than two hours on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Nadal, bidding to surpass the mark of six Roland Garros title he jointly holds with Swede Bjorn Borg, prevailed on his first match point with his 19th forehand winner.

Nadal, who has only dropped nine games in his first two matches and lost only one match since his debut on the Paris clay in 2005, will next face German 32nd seed Florian Mayer or Argentine Eduardo Schwank. (Reuters)