Nadal crushes Kuznetsov to reach last 16 in style

The Spanish defending champion, seeded a lowly sixth this year after a run of patchy form, showed the quality that has made him the dominant force on clay for a decade, brushing aside his opponent with relative ease.

He moves into the second week with an unblemished record and seems to be finding his best form in time for a likely quarter-final blockbuster with world number one Novak Djokovic -- the man he has beaten in two of the last three finals.

Before that can become a reality he will have to beat American Jack Sock in the last 16.

"Things are going better," Nadal said on court. "Against (Nicolas) Almagro (in the last round) I played a good match and again today I played well and had positive feelings.

"Fourth round is very good news for me."

Apart from a dropped service game the first set was perfect for Nadal as he overpowered the lightweight Russian.

Kuznetsov did not hold serve until he was 3-0 down in the second set and although he began to make more of a match of it he was outclassed as Nadal improved his record at Roland Garros to 69-1.