Rafael Nadal, bidding for a record seventh men&rsquo;s crown, and Maria Sharapova, seeking the only Grand Slam she has never won, both raced into the second round of the French Open yesterday with emphatic wins. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/may/Rafael-Nadal.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 476px; " /> Red hot: Rafael Nadal returns to Bolelli. Pic/AFP Nadal, beaten only once in his entire career at the venue as he attempts to go one better than Bjorn Borg&rsquo;s six titles, overcame a second-set blip as he thrashed Italian journeyman Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Despite the wide margin of his win the Spaniard, whose record in Paris is now 46-1, insisted he had had to battle some early butterflies. &ldquo;All matches are always difficult &mdash; the more so here, as you are a bit more nervous. It&rsquo;s not easy to get your bearings right off as the court is big and it&rsquo;s difficult out there,&rdquo; said the Mallorcan, who is looking to join Borg and Rod Laver on 11 Grand Slam singles titles. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m always happy to play here &mdash; it&rsquo;s an incredible feeling.&rdquo; Despite dropping his service once midway through the second set on the Philippe Chatrier showcourt Nadal won comfortably in 1hr 58min to book a meeting with Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who whipped Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Murray enters Rd 2 Later among the men, British fourth seed Andy Murray defeated Japanese World No 68 Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 7-5, 6-0. Murray will tackle Finland&rsquo;s Jarkko Nieminen for a place in the last 32. Among the women, Sharapova was one of three former grand slam champions to advance in the morning session along with young British hope Heather Watson. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2012/may/Sharapova_1.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 904px; " /> Sharapova serves to Cadantu. Pic/AFP Sharapova humiliated Romania&rsquo;s Alexandra Cadantu 6-0, 6-0 in just 48 minutes as the Russian second seed, seeking to complete her collection of majors, cruised towards a meeting with Japan&rsquo;s Ayumi Morita, who put out Polona Hercog of Slovenia 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Clad in black, and seeking her third claycourt title of the season, Sharapova over-powered her 74th-ranked rival, who failed to hit a single winner. &ldquo;Of course I&rsquo;m really happy with the way my preparation has been coming into this tournament,&rdquo; beamed Sharapova, claycourt winner at Stuttgart and Rome this season as well as twice a semi-finalist here. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the fourth-seeded Czech, thrashed Australia&rsquo;s Ashleigh Barty 6-1, 6-2 in 54 minutes to join Sharapova in the next round where she meets Urszula Radwanska of Poland. u00a0

Nadal says the occasion got to him as he began his bid for a record sixth French title with a win against Bolelli

Nadal was nervous before French Open opener

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Nadal was nervous before French Open opener

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