Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Top seed Rafael Nadal was among Thursday's second-round winners at the $1.55 million Rio Open tennis tournament.
Nadal, the reigning champion, beat Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-3 on the red clay at Rios' Jockey Club Brasileiro.
The former world No. 1 and 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal beat Alexandr Dolgopolov in last year's inaugural Rio finale. Up next for Nadal is sixth- seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who spanked Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-2.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded fiery Italian Fabio Fognini cruised past Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-2 to set-up a quarterfinal meeting with Argentine Federico Delbonis.
Delbonis upset eighth-seeded Slovak Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-1.
This week's champion will pocket $343,000.
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