French Open 2018: Rafael Nadal's Win Highlights Thursday's Results

Defending men's champion Rafael Nadal is safely into the third round of the French Open after a straight-sets win over Argentina's Guido Pella on Thursday.

The top seed was rarely troubled and put in another impressive display as he cruised to victory. Marin Cilic is also through after beating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in four sets.

In the women's draw, it was a good day for top seed Simona Halep, who saw off Taylor Townsend. Maria Sharapova also booked her place in the third round, as did third seed Garbine Muguruza.

Here's a look at Thursday's results, followed by a recap of the best action from Roland Garros.

French Open, Selected Thursday Results

Men's Draw

[1] Rafael Nadal bt. Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-1

[31] Albert Ramos Vinolas bt. Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

[6] Kevin Anderson bt. Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4

Mischa Zverev bt. Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (2), 6-1

Kyle Edmund bt. Marton Fucsovics 6-0, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3

[29] Richard Gasquet bt. Malek Jaziri 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0

[24] Denis Shapovalov bt. Maximilian Marterer 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4

[18] Fabio Fognini bt. Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-1, 6-2

[3] Marin Cilic bt. Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-5

Women's Draw

[1] Simona Halep bt. Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-1

Lesia Tsurenko bt. [15] CoCo Vandeweghe 3-6, 6-4, 6-0

[28] Maria Sharapova bt. Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4

Karolina Pliskova bt. Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1

[16] Elise Mertens bt. Heather Watson 6-3, 6-4

[24] Daria Gavrilova bt. Bernarda Pera 5-7, 7-5, 6-3

Samantha Stosur bt. [30] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 7-6 (1)

[3] Garbine Muguruza bt. Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3

[19] Magdalena Rybarikova bt. Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-4

Full results are available from the competition's official website.

Thursday Recap

Nadal dropped just four games on his way to victory over Pella as he put in another completely dominant showing.

Eurosport UK showed how the two players looked ahead of the match:

Pella started strongly but was simply ground down by the defending champion's superior quality. He made his first breakthrough at 4-2 in the opening set before breaking again to take it 6-2.

Freelance writer Tom Perrotta explained just how impressively the Spaniard was playing:

The second set raced by as Nadal romped into a 5-0 lead. He did allow his opponent one game back before promptly sealing the second set 6-1 against a helpless Pella.

Nadal's biggest concern in the third set seemed to be some dark rain clouds, which produced a few drops of rain. However, he managed to beat the weather by quickly wrapping up the third set 6-1.

Christopher Clarey at the New York Times offered his view of Nadal's performance:

It was an excellent display from Nadal as he bids for an 11th title in Paris. He'll play home favourite Richard Gasquet next, but on his form, he will have little to fear from the Frenchman.

Halep—the women's top seed, who has twice been beaten in the final at Roland Garros—was just as convincing as she swept past Townsend 6-3, 6-1.

The Romanian gave her opinion of the French Open after her match:

Halep will play Germany's Andrea Petkovic next, while Sharapova set up a tasty tie against sixth seed Karolina Pliskova by beating Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4.

Sharapova served for the first set at 5-3 but was forced to work hard as Vekic hit back, but the Russian eventually managed to seal it.

The second set saw plenty of twists and turns as Sharapova dropped serve early on, and she also failed to serve out the match again at 5-3 before eventually claiming victory.

Tennis journalist Ilya Ryvlin showed what Sharapova made of the match:

Sharapova will face another tough test next time out against Pliskova, who came from a set down to beat Lucie Safarova on Thursday and made it all the way to the semi-finals at the French Open in 2017.