Nadal is looking for his fourth clay-court title of the season

World number one Rafael Nadal swept aside Jurgen Melzer in brutal style at the Madrid Open on Wednesday, joining Novak Djokovic in the third round.

Home favourite Nadal was in stunning form as he took his unbeaten record on clay to 31 matches with a 6-3 6-1 win.

Djokovic, the third seed, eased past Spain's Oscar Hernandez 6-3 6-3.

There was a brief scare for the Serb as he fell awkwardly on his right knee early in the second set but he recovered to cruise through.

Before the tournament began, Nadal expressed his fears that conditions at the high-altitude venue would make the ball bounce higher and partly negate his advantage on clay.

The 22-year-old did not appear to encounter any problems against Melzer, making a total of three unforced errors and converting all four of his break points.

I am motivated to win back my third ranking position Novak Djokovic

But he said: "It's more difficult to play here than on normal altitude surfaces.

"You can do more with the ball with less effort, but your opponent also does it back to you as easily."

The only break in Nadal's concentration came when a ball girl fainted and had to be carried off court for medical assistance early in the second set.

Germany's Phillipp Kohlschreiber is next to test himself against the world's best clay-court player after he upset 13th seed Marin Cilic 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-2).

"You can say he's the best clay court player ever, so I'll have to do my best and fight for every point," said the German.

Djokovic, who won the inaugural Serbia Open on Sunday, is playing his first tournament since losing his world number three spot to Andy Murray.

"I try not to pay too much attention to rankings," said the Serb, who faces Andreas Seppi of Italy in the next round.

"But I am motivated to win back my third ranking position."

Murray survived a tough challenge against Simone Bolelli on Tuesday and could be further tested by Spain's Tommy Robredo on Thursday.

Robredo is the world number 17 and has already won two titles on clay this year.

"He is one of the top 10 clay-court players for sure," said Murray.

"He won a couple of tournaments on clay in South America and he is playing at home, so he's going to have good support.

"It'll be a very good test for me but hopefully I can play like I did (against Bolelli) and give myself a good chance."

606: DEBATE Have your say on the day's play in Madrid

In other matches on Wednesday, Juan Martin Del Potro advanced after Tomas Berdych retired at 6-2 4-1 down.

The Czech player had looked unlikely to repeat his victory in the Munich Open last week before a leg injury forced him out.

Argentina's Del Potro will now take on Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

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