Nadal, Murray sail through at Rome Masters

Seven-time winner Nadal wins in straight sets; Murray, with his wedding ring tied to his shoelace, progresses too.

The Internazionali BNL d''Italia 2015 - Day Four
Nadal is a seven-time winner at Rome Masters [Getty Images]

Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal was sharp in a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan at the Rome Masters.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay.

Fresh from winning back-to-back titles in Munich and Madrid, Murray was once seen sporting his wedding ring tied around his shoelaces as he beat France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3.

“I won’t lose it if it’s tied to my shoelace,” Murray told Sky Sport Italia. “As soon as the match is over I put it back on. If I’d keep it in my bag I’d have lost it already.”

Murray, who married Kim Sears last month, faced two break points in the sixth game of the opening set as Chardy tried to create another early upset after knocking out Roger Federer in the same round here 12 months ago.

But Murray held on to breeze through the rest of the match by outfoxing Chardy with his touch, powerful serve and backhand dropshots.

John Isner also progressed following a 7-6, 6-4 win against Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer.

The American served 11 aces and did not face any break points in the match.

In the women’s event, second-seed Simona Halep crushed American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0, while seventh-seed Ana Ivanovic fell to Russia’s Daria Gavrilova after a three-hour battle.

The former French Open champion saved seven match points but eventually fell 5-7, 7-6, 7-6.

Men’s results:

4-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Marsel Ilhan (Turkey) 6-2 6-0

5-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Jiri Vesely (Czech Republic) 7-6(3) 7-5

3-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Jeremy Chardy (France) 6-4 6-3

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 6-4 6-3

16-John Isner (U.S.) beat Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) 7-6(6) 6-4

Women’s results:

8-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Kristina Mladenovic (France) 4-6 6-3 6-1

Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) beat 15-Madison Keys (U.S.) 6-4 1-6 6-3

Daria Gavrilova (Russia) beat 7-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(7)

2-Simona Halep (Romania) beat Alison Riske (U.S.) 6-3 6-0

Source: News Agencies