MASON, Ohio (AP) Rafael Nadal beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open
Nadal, the third-seeded Spanish star who won the hardcourt tournament in 2013, was coming off the Rio Olympics, where he teamed with Marc Lopez to win the doubles title and lost in the bronze medal singles match. Before that, the 30-year-old Nadal had missed two months with an injured left wrist.
Nadal avenged a loss to Cuevas in February in Rio de Janeiro in a clay-court event to set up a third-round match against 14th-seeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia or Borna Coric of Croatia.
Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland also advanced, beating American Jared Donaldson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Top-seeded Any Murray of Scotland, coming off his second Olympic singles title, faced Argentina's Juan Monaco in a night match.
In other second-round matches, fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada beat American John Isner 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5); fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori topped Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2; and seventh-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France edged American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).
Defending champion Roger Federer and top-ranked Novak Djokovic are sidelined by injuries.
In women's second-round play, second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany beat France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 7-5; third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania edged Germany's Annika Beck 6-3, 6-1; and fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain topped American Coco Vandeweghe 7-6 (4), 6-2.
With two-time defending champion Serena Williams forced to withdraw because of an inflamed shoulder, Kerber is in position to take the top spot in the rankings with a tournament victory. Williams has been in the top spot for 183 consecutive weeks.
Rain delayed the start of play for 90 minutes. The tournament had 39 singles matches scheduled for Wednesday, trying to make up for weather delays over the first two full days of play.
