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Nadal begins Barcelona bid in style; Wozniacki wins in Stuttgart

Rafael Nadal took his total of victories to 25 this year, edging him past rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Rafael Nadal took his total of victories to 25 this year, edging him past rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Rafael Nadal seeking sixth title in Barcelona, having missed last year's tournament
  • Spain's world No. 1 will face Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in third round of clay event
  • Swedish third seed Robin Soderling crashes out, losing to 56th-ranked Ivan Dodig
  • Women's No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki wins her opening match in Stuttgart

(CNN) -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki breezed through the opening matches of their bids for a second successive tournament victory of the clay-court season on Wednesday.

Men's No. 1 Nadal crushed fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1 6-1 in the second round of the Barcelona Open, where he had an opening bye as he seeks a sixth title after missing last year's event.

Nadal, who won a record seventh consecutive Monte Carlo Masters crown on Sunday, needed just 66 minutes to progress to a third-round clash with Colombia's Santiago Giraldo.

The 54th-ranked Giraldo reached the final of January's clay event in Santiago, Chile but lost to Gimeno-Traver in his opening match in Monte Carlo.

Murray withdraws from Barcelona event

Winning in Monte Carlo gives you a lot of confidence ... the weekend was hard both physically and mentally
--Rafael Nadal
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"I'm feeling good," Nadal told the ATP Tour website after extending his winning record at the Torneo Godo to 25-1 with his 25th victory this year, edging him past Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

"Winning in Monte Carlo gives you a lot of confidence. Of course the weekend was hard both physically and mentally. This is a different tournament, I'm playing at home.

"The first match is always difficult and I managed to play at a high level, I think, against a player that is not easy. I'm happy to be back at the Godo and to get through the first round, and I'm happy with the standard of play I had on court today."

Third seed Robin Soderling crashed out, losing 6-2 6-4 to Croatia's 56th-ranked Ivan Dodig -- who lost to the Swede on hard-court in Miami last month.

Dodig earned a clash with rising Canadian star Milos Raonic, after the 20-year-old 15th seed overcame Germany's Simon Greul 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) in the day's final match.

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Fourth seed David Ferrer, beaten by Nadal in Sunday's final, was untroubled in dismissing Argentina's Carlos Berlocq 6-2 6-2.

The Spaniard will next face Victor Hanescu after the Romanian knocked out 14th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson, winning 6-4 6-4.

Former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, playing his first event since last September's U.S. Open following wrist and knee surgery, beat Germany's lucky loser Mischa Zverev 6-4 7-5.

Zverev made it into the draw after the withdrawal of injured second seed Andy Murray.

The 31-year-old, French Open champion in 2003, has a good chance to progress further with his next opponent 186th-ranked French qualifier Simone Vagnozzi -- who upset Argentine 16th seed Juan Monaco 6-3 6-2.

Monte Carlo semifinalist Jurgen Melzer also went through to the third round, and the Austrian sixth seed will play Spanish No. 11 Albert Montanes.

French ninth seed Richard Gasquet set up a third-round clash with seventh-seeded compatriot Gael Monfils, with the winner of that match likely to face Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Women's No. 1 Wozniacki triumphed in the Charleston clay event in the United States earlier this month, and continued that form into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix event in Germany.

The 20-year-old, who had an opening bye, crushed 134th-ranked Slovakian Zuzana Kucova 6-1 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal clash with home hope Andrea Petkovic.

Petkovic, who beat Wozniacki in the last 16 in Miami last month, furthered her reputation by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, the 2008 Stuttgart champion and seeded seventh this year.

Stosur strolls into Stuttgart second round

The 23-year-old, now up to 19th in the rankings, came from behind to win 3-6 6-1 6-3 in just over two hours.

Second seed Vera Zvonareva will play last year's runner-up Samantha Stosur in the last eight, with the world No. 3 coming from behind to beat her Russia Fed Cup teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Fifth-seeded Australian Stosur, who lost to Justine Henin in 2010 before also reaching the French Open final, also triumphed in three sets as she overcame 2002 runner-up Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4 2-6 6-4.

Third seed Francesca Schiavone crashed out in a setback to her hopes of defending her French Open title, losing 6-1 6-3 to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

Radwanska, ranked a career-high eighth last year, has a great chance of reaching the semifinals as her next opponent is German wild-card entry Kristina Barrois -- who upset French eighth seed Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-2.

Chinese sixth seed Li Na's return to form did not last long as the Australian Open finalist bowed out with a 6-4 7-5 defeat by German wild-card Sabine Lisicki -- her fifth in six matches since Melbourne.

The 21-year-old Lisicki will play compatriot Julia Gorges in the last eight after fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus had to retire with a shoulder injury afte winning the first set 6-4 in their encounter.

The home nation will have four players in the quarterfinals, having had none for the past decade.