Sharapova tops Begu, reaches Madrid Open last-16

The 2014 Madrid champion needed one hour and 34 minutes to earn her fourth win against Begu in as many career matches, reports Efe.

Making her eighth appearance at the tournament, Sharaporva, a former World No. 1, reached the third round of the WTA clay-court event for the sixth time.

Sharapova, currently world No. 52, managed to recover from an early break to seal the first set in 65 minutes.

Things went more easily for Sharapova in the second set, as she managed to win six straight games.

The 31-year-old began her Madrid Open campaign on Sunday by defeating Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in straight sets.

Sharapova is set to take on Kristina Mladenovic of France, who beat China's Shuai Zhang 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Meanwhile, tennis great Rafael Nadal of Spain on Monday brushed off being tipped to win the Madrid Open title, despite his good showing so far in this year's clay court season.

The so-called "King of Clay" won his 11th title at both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open, achieving an Open Era record streak of clay-court sets won at 46 and counting, reports Efe.

"It's true that I played at a good level in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and that's why things went as they did," Nadal, world No. 1, said at a press conference ahead of starting his bid for a sixth Madrid Open title.

"I'm happy with the way things went. I was better than the other players in those tournaments, but this doesn't guarantee that I'll be better in this tournament," Nadal added.

"What I want is to be ready to be there. For me, it doesn't matter to be the favourite or not. I do not worry about this at all. I try to do things the best way possible and arrive at the tournament at the best level," he continued.

Nadal added that he considers this approach to be the key to his success throughout his career.