Nadal, Ferrer win in straight sets

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal and No. 3-seeded David Ferrer advanced with straight-set victories Tuesday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. Nadal, the event's defending champion, posted a solid 6-3, 6-2 first-round win over wild-card entrant Go Soeda. Nadal was good on 85 percent of his first serves and saved all three of the break points he faced. He won two-thirds of the points on serve and finished off break chances in four of the nine Soeda service games. Ferrer also took out a Japanese favorite, defeating Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3. He lost his serve twice in the first set but also had three breaks. No. 5-seeded Viktor Troicki and eighth-seeded Juan Monaco were eliminated. Bernard Tomic edged past Troicki 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1) while Ivan Dodig beat Monaco 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1) in a match that took 2 hours, 43 minutes. Tatsuma Ito was the lone Japanese player to win Tuesday, beating Dudi Sela 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. However, Milos Raonic handed Japan's Yuichi Sugita a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) defeat. Also Tuesday Santiago Giraldo topped Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Ernests Gulbis beat Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; David Nalbandian routed Lukas Rosol 6-1, 6-1; and Alex Bogomolov Jr. advanced over Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-4.