Rafael Nadal managed to scrape through into the last 16 at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati last night, but it was clear that he is still not back to top form.

It took the Spaniard over two hours to beat the Italian player, Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) in a match characterised by much insecurity on court interspersed with bursts of familiar brilliance.

Nadal started with a bang, breaking the Italian's serve at the first opportunity, and it looked like the match was going to be over very quickly.  But Seppi reacted well and quickly, forcing the tie break after breaking Nadal's serve in the sixth game.

In the second set Rafa struggled to hold his serve and when play was suspended for rain at 4-4 and 0-40 on Nadal's serve things were looking ominous.  After the rain break, however, Nadal came up with a series of shots of the kind that took him to the number one slot in the world and proved to be stronger than Seppi on the decisive points.

Nadal's next opponent will be the Frenchman, Paul Henri Mathieu, who knocked out the big-serving Croat, Ivo  Karlovic, in the previous round.

David Ferrer continues his steady progress through the tournament after knocking out Croatia's Marin Cilic 7-6, 6-2 in the second round.  His next opponenet will be world number one, Roger Federer.  Ferrer and Tommy Robredo are also through to the second round of the doubles tournament.

A third Spanish player, Guillermo García López, has also secured a place in the last 16, with a first round win over compatriot Fernando Verdasco and a second round win over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny (7-5, 6-3).  His next opponent will be France's Julien Benneteau.