30th of March

World number one Rafa Nadal held off a strong challenge from Portugal's Frederico Gil on Tuesday to win 7-5 6-3 and book a place in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Rafa broke service twice in the first set and, after the determined and aggressive Gil broke early to go 2-0 up in the second, regained control to clinch victory.

The 'Raging Bull' will now face the winner of the third-round tie between Russian Igor Andreev and Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Spaniard's powerful serve was the basis of his victory - he produced five aces and won 76 percent of points on first service. Rafa, however, was not satisfied with his performance.

"You can't play well every day, and today was one of these days," he said after the match.

"No opponent is easy, especially if you are not playing your best tennis. So everything was more difficult today."

DOUBLES

Rafa and his friend Marc Lopez had a difficult challenge ligned up for today's second round of doubles against B. Soares and  K. Ullyett.

The pair had more experience than the Spaniards and at the end they prevailed in two stes, 6-3, 6-4 after and hour and 18 minutes of play.