Indian Wells: Rafael Nadal demolishes Jared Donaldson

World number two Rafael Nadal hit 18 winners and cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Donaldson in his opening match.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal produced a ruthless display in a straight-sets demolition of Jared Donaldson in the Indian Wells Masters second round.

The Spanish second seed cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Donaldson in his opening match at the ATP 1000 event on Sunday.

Nadal, a three-time champion at Indian Wells, was typically merciless, hitting 18 winners and 10 unforced errors in his victory.

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Donaldson could only take three games against Nadal in their only previous meeting in Shanghai in 2017, but he was unable to match even that.

The biggest challenge Nadal endured was before the match, the 17-time grand slam champion apologising to Donaldson for being late, telling the American he thought the match was at 20:00 local time (03:00 GMT), not 18:00.

Still, Nadal landed the first blow in the fourth game, breaking for 3-1 after a forehand winner and Donaldson error at the net.

Donaldson was unable to match Nadal's consistency, the Spaniard ripping another forehand winner to break again in the sixth game.

Nadal continued in the same fashion in the second set, breaking in the opening game on his way to a comfortable victory.