Nadal, Safina cruising in French Open

PARIS: Rafael Nadal, bidding for an historic fifth successive French Open title, swept into the second round yesterday while women's top seed Dinara Safina engineered a brutal center court humiliation.

Top seed and world No 1 Nadal, sporting a bright pink shirt, saw off plucky Brazilian qualifier Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 to take his Roland Garros career record to 29 wins in 29 matches.

He will now face either Igor Kunitsyn or Teimuraz Gabashvili, both Russians, for a place in the last 32.