Rafael Nadal to meet Nick Kyrgios in third round Madrid clash, Novak Djokovic also advances

Rafael Nadal set up a third round clash with Nick Kyrgios after a hard-fought win over Fabio Fognini in the second round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday (10 May).

The Spaniard had arguably his toughest task of the clay season, needing nearly three hours to come away with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 win against the Italian.

The win makes it 10 games unbeaten for Nadal who is undoubtedly the favourite in Madrid after his wins in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion will now face Australia's Kyrgios in the third round with the duo having one win apiece against each other. Kyrgios defeated American Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the last 16.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic also progressed to the third round with his first win since parting with his coaching staff recently.

The Serbian ace defeated Spanish wildcard Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 and will face Feliciano Lopez next. Regarding a new coach, Djokovic said he aimed to appoint one before the French Open begins on 28 May.

"I'm going to think about who I want in my team and I don't yet have anyone," he said, as quoted on BBC. "But I think by the French Open, or after the French Open, I'm going to have someone."

"I understand people are trying to speculate and create a list because I was saying I would like to have someone who was kind of in my shoes before."

The road to the final in Madrid will be tough on both halves of the draw with world number one Andy Murray facing the prospect of meeting either Grigor Dimitrov or Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final while Djokovic could meet one of Nadal or Kyrgios in the semi-final.