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Rafael Nadal, Stanislas Wawrinka advance

Top satrs register straight-set victories in the third round

Top seed Rafael Nadal and reigning Aussie Open champ Stanislas Wawrinka posted straight-set victories in the third round at the WTA and ATP Miami Masters hardcourt tournament on Monday.

French Open champ Nadal needed just 59 minutes to rout Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, 6-1, 6-0 while Wawrinka cruised into the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-4 dismantling of Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France at Crandon Park.

“I’m happy with the way I was fighting, the way I stayed positive in the game,” said the 28-year-old Wawrinka. “Even if I was wasn’t moving or playing so as well at the beginning, I stayed with him.

“I was fighting with myself to get control of the point.” Nadal, who finished runner-up in this event three times, will next face 14^th-seeded Fabio Fognini, who battled back to beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Swiss Wawrinka will square off against Alexandr Dolgopolov after the 22^nd-seeded Ukrainian rallied for a 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) win over Dusan Lajovic. Wawrinka already owns two titles this year. He claimed his first Grand Slam win in Melbourne in January. His best previous finish in Miami was a straight set loss to Nadal in the round of 16 in 2009. Like Nadal, Canada’s Milos Raonic barely broke a sweat on Monday. Raonic, who dropped only five points on his serve in the match, reached the last 16 for the first time after being forced to withdraw from third-round matches with injuries the past two years.

“I just generally improved, especially on second serve returns (and) taking advantage more of those opportunities,” Raonic said.

He next faces German Benjamin Becker, who beat Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 7-5. “It’s going to be a tough match but it’s up to me,” Raonic said. “I’ve got to play well. If I do, I can always give myself an opportunity to do well.”