ROME, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Nadal of Spain started his Rome Masters title defence, beating former world number one Carlos Moya6-1, 2-6 and 6-2 in the first round here on Tuesday.

Rafael Nadal of Spain beats former world number one Carlos Moya in the first round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    Along with the second seed into the second round were fourth seed David Nalbandian of Argentina who beat Spanish qualifier Fernando Vicente 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3, fifth seed Andy Roddick who nipped Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-1, 6-0 and Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko who savored a 6-1, 6-4 win over Boris Pashanski of Serbia and Montenegro.

    With his victory, the 19-year-old Nadal will equal Guillermo Vilas's 1977 record of 53 consecutive wins on clay if he can retain his title this week.

    After taking advantage of an error-strewn start by his compatriot, the French Open champion was forced to dig in when Moya found the range on his groundstrokes to level at one set all.

    Moya cracked early in the decider, putting one forehand into the tramlines, then blasting another over the baseline to drop serve in his first service game and gift Nadal the lead he needed to serve out and win.

    "I think that was one of the toughest first-round draws I could have got," said Nadal who next faces home favourite Filippo Volandri after the latter knocked out Britain's Andy Murray 6-4 and 6-4.

    In recent years, Rome has proved a graveyard for its reigning champion, who has progressed beyond the second round just once since 1997. Enditem