TENNIS MONTE CARLO MASTERS:RAFA NADAL dazzled Finland's Jarkko Nieminen with a fluorescent yellow shirt as well as his all-round game in a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory in yesterday's second round of the Monte Carlo Masters while Andy Murray finally won a match.

World number one Nadal, bidding for a record seventh straight title by Monaco’s turquoise sea, broke straight away and the Finn received ironic cheers from the packed crowd when he won his first point but Nadal was not quite at his best.

The Spaniard, playing his first match of the year on his favoured surface after receiving a first-round bye, will meet France’s Richard Gasquet in round three today after the 13th seed beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 6-1.

“It’s just the first match on clay, it’s an important victory,” top seed Nadal, gearing up for the defence of his French Open title next month, said. “I need a few more days. I have to play more aggressive on backhand, I have to move better, I have to have a few less mistakes than today.”

Third-seed Murray had lost his opening match in each of his last three tournaments since his Australian Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic but he easily broke the streak without being especially fluent in a 6-1 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek.

The Scot, who only really rattled when dropping his serve midway through the second set, barely had to get out of first gear to beat the error-prone Czech but will face a stiffer test today against in-form home-crowd favourite Gilles Simon.

“I played great, I played really well. I dominated the match from the second or third game,” the world number four said.

“I was a bit tentative towards the end but that’s natural. I didn’t give him a chance to play his game until the end.”

Windsurfers enjoying the waves in the bay just below the picturesque Monte Carlo Country Club were testament to the breezy conditions but a packed house on centre court helped shield Murray’s famous curly locks and he revelled in the much-needed win.

“I thought it was good, a really good atmosphere. It’s a beautiful court to play on,” he said, the tall Scot arching to avoid his head touching the low interview room roof.

“It never gets that windy down there. This is one of the nicest venues on the tour.”

Murray’s first step to redemption and a first step on the road to next month’s French Open was all a matter of good movement around the court at the first men’s clay event in Europe this year.

“I like clay, I play well on clay. I think I can get good results on it,” Murray nodded. “I was moving properly from the start of the match.”

However, he is not getting ahead of himself with a third-round meeting against Simon beckoning, not to mention Nadal in a possible semi-final.

“Gilles is very tough to play, he doesn’t make many mistakes,” said Murray.

Fourth-seed David Ferrer trounced a demoralised Feliciano Lopez 6-2 6-0, displaying the potency of his serve on the court nestled between the cliffs and the sea when he fired three straight aces to go 5-0 up in the second set.

However, sixth-seed Fernando Verdasco surprisingly lost 6-4 6-3 to Tommy Robredo in another all-Spanish tie while Juergen Melzer, Gael Monfils, Frederico Gil, Viktor Troicki and Nicolas Almagro also went through.

Marin Cilic benefited from Pere Riba retiring hurt to set up a third-round meeting with world number three Roger Federer, an impressive winner over Philipp Kohlschreiber on Tuesday.

World number two player Djokovic was forced to skip the first men’s claycourt tournament of the year in Europe with a knee problem.