Defending champion Rafa Nadal kicked off his title defence at the Pacific Life Open on Saturday with a 6-3 6-3 victory against qualifier Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.

The second-seeded Spaniard won the first of his six titles last season at Indian Wells with victory over Serbia's Novak Djokovic and will take his next step to opening his 2008 account in the third round against American Donald Young, who defeated 32nd seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.

Rafa, 21, is hoping to keep the pressure on world number one Roger Federer at the top of the world rankings after moving to within 350 points of the Swiss ace. Federer opens his challenge against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Sunday.

"I am very happy being back at Indian Wells and I have very nice memories from last year," Rafa said after the match. "This court is always very special for me" "Today I win, that's it, I can't do too much," he said.