Moya was rarely troubled by the high winds

Monte Carlo Masters

Second seed Carlos Moya overcame harsh weather conditions to beat Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Both players had to contend with high winds throughout the contest but it was the former French Open champion who came out on top.

The Spaniard made light work of his court rival from the outset of play, overpowering him with his groundstrokes from the baseline.

Afterwards Moya said: "The conditions were rather extreme for both of us, but I'm pretty happy with my game.

"It's a tournament I like a lot, having reached the final twice, winning it once. But it's a very hard one to win as well."

I walked on court with a lot of respect, knowing he had just won a tournament Albert Costa on Nikolay Davydenko

Moya was joined in the next round by compatriot and French Open champion Albert Costa, who overwhelmed Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2.

Davydenko, who had won in Estoril last week, failed to repeat his heroics in Monaco as he was rattled from start to finish by Costa.

Costa said: "I walked on court with a lot of respect, knowing he had just won a tournament.

"But I also knew I was the favourite. It was impossible to play your best tennis because of the wind so I just stayed calm and focused on every point."

Costa now faces 16-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who thrashed Slovak Karol Kucera 6-1 6-2.

Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik was another winner after a comortable 6-1 6-3 victory over Spaniard David Sanchez.

The 27-year-old upset the form book when he won in Sydney at the start of the year, beating Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final.

"Sydney gave me a bit of confidence - but now the Korean people expect more than just a win here and there," said Lee.

His win over Sanchez sets up a meeting with Holland's Sjeng Schalken, the tournament's ninth seed, who was handed victory over Davide Sanguinetti after the Italian limped off with a leg injury.

Other winners on day two of the event were Jarkko Nieminen and Julien Benneteau.

The Finnish Nieminen beat America's Taylor Dent 7-6 6-2, while Benneteau, from France, eventually edged out Holland's Raemon Sluiter 3-6 6-1 7-6.

Nieminen will play Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov after the former French Open champion beat Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui 6-2 6-7 6-1.

In other action, South African Wayne Ferreira beat Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman 6-4 2-6 7-5, while Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic overpowered Austria's Stefan Koubek.