Nadal, Murray into 3rd round at Madrid Masters

"I've been playing really, really well in practice the last few weeks, better than I was playing throughout the summer," said Murray, who picked up his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati in August. "I'm probably mentally fresher now than the U.S. Open."

Murray will next play Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Verdasco 6-2, 6-3.

Gilles Simon of France won 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to keep Blake winless in five appearances at the tournament. Simon saved four break points in the second set and converted two of his own before dominating the final set.

Blake has only a few tournaments left to qualify for the Masters Cup. He's in ninth place in the standings for the top-eight event.

In first-round play, the winners included French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils, American qualifier Robby Ginepri, Spanish qualifier Marcel Granollers, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Victor Hanescu of Romania, and Robin Soderling of Sweden.