Nadal and Blake ease into fourth round

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Spaniard Rafael Nadal stayed on course for his first ATP title of the year with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of American wildcard Donald Young in the Pacific Life Open third round on Monday.

The defending champion and second seed outplayed his 18-year-old opponent from the baseline, sealing victory in one hour, 22 minutes at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

"All matches are important for me, but especially here where I am defending my title because last year I played my best tournament here," Nadal said in a courtside interview. "I'm happy to come here to try to do my best."

The muscular Spaniard, who beat Serb Novak Djokovic in last year's final, broke Young in the first, third and seventh games to blast through the opening set.

In a match between two left-handers, the world number two broke again in the sixth game of the second set when the American teenager hit a forehand long before serving out for the win.

Nadal, who piled up six ATP titles in his 2007 campaign including a third successive French Open, will next meet either Paul-Henri Mathieu or fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Earlier, ninth-seeded American James Blake powered past Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-3 6-4 to set up a fourth-round clash with Richard Gasquet of France, who crushed Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-1.

Urged on by partisan fans crammed round the Stadium Court, Blake dominated the former world number one from the baseline to seal victory in 75 minutes.