Nadal wins 30 straight on clay

Rafael Nadal racked up his 30th successive match win on clay on Wednesday with a brutal 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hugo Armando in the second round of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart on Wednesday.

The French Open champion was last beaten on the surface in early April in Valencia and American qualifier Armando was no match for the Spanish teenager.

Armando, who had beaten Gustavo Kuerten in the first round, lost his opening service game when he put a forehand long and Nadal never gave him a chance to come back.

The 19-year-old raced to the first set in 26 minutes and took an early break in the second, setting up the chance with a deft drop shot and converting with a wicked pass down the line.

He improved that to 5-2 and ran Armando around the court to take the second of three match-points in the next.

Germany's Rainer Schuettler upset seventh seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-5 6-3 to join him in the third round.

Schuettler took a tight first set with a fierce two-handed backhand return on his second set-point and came from a break down in the second to complete victory in 92 minutes.