Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 19 April 2007 /

Rafael Nadal has shown once again that he remains the man to beat on clay, after an impressive win over Juan Ignacio Chela at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The Spanish ace extended an unbeaten run on his favourite surface to 63 matches, with his last defeat coming against Igor Andreev in 2005.

Nadal, a two-time winner in Monaco, claimed a comfortable straights sets win, 6-3 6-1, over Chela to cruise through to the third round.

The French Open champion admitted: "It was very nice to come back here and play the first match like this. I felt very comfortable on court.

"I could have served a little bit better, but for the rest I'm very happy."

The Spaniard will now take on Belgian Kristof Vliegen for a place in the quarter-finals and will not take his opponent lightly.
Nadal added: "It is going to be a tough match. He is a very talented player. He beat Paul-Henri Mathieu and Marat Safin."
The defending champion is trading at 1.82 to win his third consecutive Monte Carlo Masters, with Roger Federer (3.4) seen as his nearest challenger.

Meanwhile, Betfair punters see Nadal as 2.26 favourited to win the French Open, with world number one Federer trading at 2.68.

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