Nadal advances to second round of Mexican Open with victory against Argentine Schwartzman

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Argentina�s Diego Scwartzman during the Mexican Open Tennis in Acapulco, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Christian Palma)

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Rafael Nadal needed just over an hour to beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Mexican Open.

The seven-time French Open winner is making a comeback after being away from the tour for more than seven months with a left-knee injury.

Nadal made the final of the VTR Open earlier this month in Chile before losing to Argentine Horacio Zeballos. A week later he reached the final of the Brazil Open and defeated David Nalbandian to secure the title.

He is seeded No. 2 in the clay court tournament at Mexico, behind fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.

Ferrer also won his first-round match on Tuesday, defeating Antonio Veic 6-0, 6-3. Ferrer is the three-time defending champion and won last week in Buenos Aires, his second title of the season.

No. 3 seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain defeated Cesar Ramirez of Mexico 6-0, 6-1.

Nadal rested last week, giving his left knee a chance to heal. He has said the knee still hurts and has been told he has to live with it until the pain slowly goes away.

The major upset saw No. 4 seed Stanislas Wawrinka losing to Fabio Fognini 6-2, 7-6 (3).

On the women's side of the combined ATP-WTA tournament, top-seeded and defending champion Sara Errani of Italy defeated Alexandra Cadantu of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., defeated Eva Birnerova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-3.

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