PARIS - World number one Rafael Nadal eased past France's Florent Serra 6-2 6-4 to book a place in the third round of the Paris Masters Wednesday.

The Spaniard, already sure of topping the ATP end-of-year rankings, now faces another Frenchman, 16th seed Gael Monfils, in his quest for a fourth Masters Series title this season.

Serra had warned he would attack Nadal but he was no more than a punch bag for the top seed in the opening set, which Nadal won in less than half-an-hour.

The Frenchman rallied in the second set but, after wasting his only break point, dropped serve and Nadal held to bag an easy win on his first match point when Serra returned long.

Nadal, who lost to Argentine David Nalbandian in last year's final here, was pleased with his performance.

"I played very well, it was a comfortable first set," Nadal told reporters. "So I'm just happy to be in the third round, as always. It is important to win matches, to win more points," he added before turning to Thursday's encounter with Monfils.

"He is a good player. He can play aggressive sometimes with a very good serve," said the Spaniard. "He can play normally but sometimes he plays defensively, two meters behind the baseline."

(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Ken Ferris)

PHOTO: REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

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