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Nadal battles to win in Tokyo

Rafael Nadal won in straight sets © Getty Images

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World No. 1 Rafael Nadal was pushed hard by qualifier Milos Raonic at the Japan Open, but he battled through to book a spot in the third round.

The Spaniard, who suffered a shock defeat in the semi-final of the Thailand Open last week, secured a 6-4 6-4 victory in 72 minutes.

Bidding to win a seventh title of a hugely successful year, Nadal was not at his devastating best - giving away five break points - but he was never seriously threatened by the world No. 200.

Things might have been different if Raonic could have made put a bit more menace behind his second serve, but he was unable to do so - winning just five of 14 points.

Elsewhere, Andy Roddick was forced to dig deep for a 6-4 7-6(4) win over Jeremy Chardy. The American has had a tough time in 2010, slipping down to a current No. 10 in the world after a string of disappointing tournaments, but he is looking to finish the season on a high and got the better of Chardy in an hour and 32 minutes.

The opening set was a tight affair that went Roddick's way as the American converted the only break point that was offered up. Both players were excellent on serve throughout and with no breaks of serve in the second set, Roddick - who hit five aces in the match compared to his opponent's six - needed to book his place in the last 16 courtesy of a hard-fought tiebreak.

Chardy had a set point in the second set but missed with a backhand and Roddick took advantage to book a meeting with Gael Monfils. "I was pretty happy with the way I played," Roddick said. "I felt I played the big points really well. I felt today was pretty encouraging.

The No. 5 seed Monfils had little trouble in disposing of Andreas Seppi, with the Frenchman wrapping up a routine 6-4 6-4 win in an hour and 18 minutes.

Viktor Troicki took the notable scalp of Jurgen Melzer, with the Serb claiming a 7-6(7) 3-6 7-6(3) win over the No. 4 seed.

At the China Open, Robin Soderling produced a destructive first-serve performance - winning 50 of 55 points - on his way to sneaking past Nicolas Almagro 7-5 4-6 6-3 in a shade under two hours. Elsewhere, David Ferrer was too good for Yen-Hsun Lu.

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