Rafael Nadal edged out Ilya Ivashka 3-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the third round in Barcelona.
The 11-time champion survived a big scare against the Belarusian as he broke on three occasions to reach the last 16.
Nadal will now face the winner of Kei Nishikori and Cristian Garin on Thursday.
It was a slow start from the Spaniard, who was broken straight away as he failed to adapt to the heavier conditions.
However this didn’t effect the world number 111 who went for the high-percentage shots and put Nadal under serious pressure.
Narrowly surviving a double break scare, Nadal eventually found his rhythm and confidence on serve but couldn’t pressurise his opponent on return.
Ivashka’s big hitting and big serving troubled Nadal as he was able to blast winners past the world number three and took advantage of Nadal’s lack of match-play.
Another break in the ninth game sealed the opening set for Ivashka in 53 minutes.
There was more to like about Nadal’s game in the second set though as he played a cleaner set of tennis, mixing his shots up.
Ivashka failed to deal with Nadal’s angles and heavy spin as in this set the Spaniard didn’t miss many shots.
In the end Nadal’s consistency was too much as a break in the opening game and fifth game sealed a comfortable set of tennis.
The final set produced both players playing solidly well throughout the set with Ivashka showing flashes of occasional brilliance as he target the down-the-line shots.
Despite Ivashka’s big-hitting, Nadal did what champions do and wore down the Belarusian before breaking when it mattered most for a 4-3 lead.
Keeping his cool and troubling the world number 111 with his energy and aggressive showcase of tennis, Nadal eventually closed out the match in 2 hours and 21 minutes.
A valiant effort by Ivashka who played some of the best tennis of his career but the king of clay prevailed to set up a third round meeting with either Kei Nishikori or Cristian Garin.
In other results Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev moved into the last 16 with 6-0 6-2 and 6-4 6-3 wins over Jaume Munar and Federico Gaio respectively.
