German Alexander Zverev defeated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets Wednesday in second-round action at the Monte-Carlo Masters men’s tennis event.

The third-seeded Zverev won the match 6-1, 6-4. The German finished making 75 per cent of his first serves, compared to 52 per cent for Auger-Aliassime, of Montreal.

WATCH | Felix Auger-Aliassime falls to Alexander Zverev:

Alexander Zverev knocks Auger-Aliassime out of Monte-Carlo Masters

 WATCH

Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets Wednesday in second-round action at the Monte-Carlo Masters. 1:04

Zverev also held a 6-2 advantage in service breaks.

In other action, Kei Nishikori bowed out of the tournament after dropping a 7-5, 6-4 decision to Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The fifth-seeded Japanese player, who lost to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final, failed to convert any of his 10 break points against Herbert.

The unseeded Herbert will next play ninth-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia..

Rafael Nadal back in action

Back on his favorite surface, Rafael Nadal showed no lingering effects of a recent injury as he breezed into the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Roberto Bautista Agut.

Nadal was making his season debut on clay and playing his first match since suffering a knee injury at Indian Wells one month ago, but the defending champion looked sharp from the start and secured an early break of serve for 2-0.

Aside from having to save five break points across two games — at 0-40 down in the fourth game and at 15-40 in the sixth— Nadal was otherwise untroubled by his Spanish countryman. The 17-time Grand Slam champion converted his first match point when he met his opponent’s strong forehand with a crisp volley at the net.

“I was able to move well and be confident in the things that I did,” the 32-year-old Nadal said. “Now what I need is to play matches, spend hours on court, and of course the victories help. Every victory is a positive energy, confidence in the game, confidence in the body. Today was a good start.”

Nadal is looking to win the clay-court tournament for a record-extending 12th time and increase his Masters record to 34 titles. He next plays Grigor Dimitrov, whom he has beaten 11 times in 12 matches. One of Nadal’s wins against the unseeded Bulgarian was in last year’s semifinal.

No. 4 Dominic Thiem, No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 10 Daniil Medvedev, and No. 13 Fabio Fognini also advanced to the third round Wednesday. But No. 5 Kei Nishikori, who lost to Nadal in last year’s final, was beaten by Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 6-4.

Tsitsipas downed Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 7-5 and next faces Medvedev. The Russian beat Radu Albot 6-1, 6-2, while Fognini had a walkover after Gilles Simon pulled out with a back injury and next takes on Zverev.

There were also second-round wins for unseeded players Dimitrov, Taylor Fritz, Cameron Norrie, and Dusan Lajovic.

Fritz won 6-4, 6-2 against Diego Schwartzman and the 21-year-old American next plays top-ranked Novak Djokovic .

Norrie beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (3), 6-3, Dimitrov won 7-6 (2), 6-4 against Jan-Lennard Struff, and Lajovic upset No. 16 David Goffin of Belgium 6-3, 6-4.