Nadal charges into third round in Paris

PARIS (Reuters) - World number one Rafael Nadal continued his bid for a fifth consecutive French Open title with a 6-1 6-4 6-2 crushing of Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round on Wednesday.

The Spaniard, unbeaten at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, needed two hours 17 minutes to down the world number 72 and set up a third-round meeting with either Kazakh Andrey Golubev or former world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

Nadal faced three break points in the opening game of the match but that was the highlight of Gabashvili's challenge on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

The four-times champion wrapped up a straightforward win on his first match point for a record 30th consecutive victory at Roland Garros, eclipsing Chris Evert's mark of 29 set between 1974-81. The American did not compete at Roland Garros between 1976-78.