Rafa cruises, Zverev scraps to French wins

Rafael Nadal has produced an imperious show on Court Philippe Chatrier to secure his 300th grand slam match victory, dismantling local hope Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1 6-4 to book his spot in the French Open third round.

Nadal counts 13 Roland Garros titles among his overall 21 majors - the highest among men - and despite his injury-blighted buildup to the claycourt tournament he has looked at his usual best in the first two rounds.

"Preparation hasn't been perfect so I didn't expect a perfect start to the tournament," the Spaniard, whose preparations were hampered by a rib injury and a foot problem, said.

"But it has been going quite well. I am positive about the things that I did out there tonight. Of course, there is room to improve and I need to improve if I want to keep having chances to go deeper."

The fifth seed, who turns 36 next week, will next meet Dutch 26th seed Botic van de Zandschulp with a potential quarter-final looming against world No.1 Novak Djokovic who defeated him in last year's semi-finals.

Alexander Zverev meantime overcame a woeful start and saved a match point on his way to beating up-and-coming Argentine Sebastian Baez.

The 25-year-old German survived a late fightback from the world No.36 to win in five sets, 2-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 7-5, but said he "couldn't have played worse at the beginning."

It was the fifth year in a row that Zverev, who achieved his best result at Roland Garros when he reached the semi-finals last year, had to go through a five-setter in one of the opening two rounds.

"I lost a US Open final being two sets up and I've learned from it. He's unbelievable and he's got a bright future ahead of him," third seed Zverev said of his opponent, who won his maiden ATP title in Estoril this month.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic's 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory over Slovakia's Alex Molcan was far more straightforward.

On a blustery Court Suzanne Lenglen, the 35-year-old Djokovic cruised through the opening two sets, breaking Molcan's serve three times without giving the Slovakian a single opportunity on his own.

The 24-year-old Molcan, trained by Djokovic's former long-time coach Marian Vajda, opened up his shoulders in the third and forced a tiebreaker.

But Djokovic moved up a gear and converted his second match point when the left-hander found the net with a return.

He will next meet Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene for a place in the fourth round.

Elsewhere, rising star and No.6 seed Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point to beat fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 6-7 (9-7) 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

Argentina's Diego Schwartzman, the No.15 seed, battled back from two sets down to defeat Spain's Jaume Munar, 2-6 6-7 (7-3) 6-2 6-2 6-2 in three hours 45 minutes.

Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov, the 18th seed, beat Borna Coric in straight sets while Sebastian Korda was a three-set winner over French veteran Richard Gasquet.

With agencies.