Spanish "Clay King" Rafael Nadal led the way as the eight time champion stormed to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory against gifted Austrian Dominic Thiem.

Despite the scoreline, the young Austrian proved a deft hand on the court, earning huge praise from Nadal.

"I think that this player has a huge potential and could be one of the ones who's going to replace us," Nadal said.

"His tennis style is really good.

"What he could work on is his footwork and how he moves on the court.

"That's all.

"But apart from that, I think his speed is really good, and also the way he changes directions, he serves well.

"I think he has a bright future ahead of him."

David Ferrer looks like a man who could pull off a surprise at this year's French Open as he comfortably made his way through to the third round ©Getty Images



Number five seed David Ferrer, a finallist at Roland Garros last year, also looked on good form in his encounter with Italian Simone Bolelli as he cruised to a comfortable 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win.

The Spanish number two is one of just three players to defeat Nadal on clay this year and is setting himself up as a good outsider in this year's tournament

British hope Andy Murray made it through his second round tie at a mere canter as he washed away Australian world number 66 Marinko Matosevic.

The seemingly coachless Wimbledon champion proved simply too strong for the Aussie as he strode to a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory to move into the third round.

On the women's side, newly emerged Croatian Simona Halep has been thrust into the spotlight as a likely title favourite following the loss of Serena Williams and Li Na.

Ranked 56 just twelve months ago, the Croatian is now number four in the world and moved a step closer to a taste of Grand Slam success as she beat Briton Heather Watson 6-2, 6-4 to progress to the final 32 in Paris for the first time.

Simona Halep is emerging as a strong title favourite in the women's competition following the shock loss of both Serena Williams and Li Na ©Getty Images



With the women's competition blown wide open with the loss of Williams and Na, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will see this as a good a chance as any to get her hands on the coveted French Open title.

The Czech fifth seed battled past Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-4 in 67 minutes to book her spot in the third round and a step closer to glory.

An all-Serbian semi-final could be on the cards after Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic both shrugged off tough 7-5 opening sets to dispose of Japan's Kurumi Nara and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in today's second round.

Barring somewhat surprise losses in the next round, which wouldn't be all that unlikely in this year's tournament, the pair will meet in a repeat of the 2008 semi-final in which Ivanovic came out on top en route to her French Open title victory.

Action is due to continue tomorrow on the clay courts of Roland Garros as Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all look to booktheir spots safely into the next round.

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