No sweat as Nadal extends win streak

ROME - Rafael Nadal hardly had to get his socks dirty to extend his winning streak to 16 matches at the Italian Open on Wednesday.

Back to being the best player on the tour over the past month, Nadal advanced from his opening match when Nicolas Almagro retired in the first set with an apparent injury.

In the women's draw, top-ranked Angelique Kerber lost her opening match to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-0.