Nadal beats Bedene to reach 3rd round at Monte Carlo Masters

MONACO (AP) Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal dropped serve twice and still beat Aljaz Bedene of Britain 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters

MONACO (AP) Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal dropped serve twice and still beat Aljaz Bedene of Britain 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.

Nadal was broken for a second time when serving for the match at 5-3, but the Spaniard broke straight back to seal victory.

The fifth-seeded Nadal, who won the last of his titles here in 2012, next faces 12th-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria.

No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, also advanced past Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (2), 7-5 into the third round.

But No. 6 Tomas Berdych, last year's runner-up, squandered eight break-point chances in losing to 99th-ranked Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3.

Later, top-ranked Novak Djokovic began his title defense against Czech Jiri Vesely.