James Blake hits a forehand Wednesday during a match against Gilles Simon at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio. Blake won 6-4, 6-3.

MASON, Ohio — Rafael Nadal needed little time to win his 30th straight match.

The Spaniard spent only 48 minutes on court Wednesday and earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Florent Serra in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. Nadal has won 30 consecutive matches since May.

Nadal, 22, has been on quite a tear the last two months, which included his epic five-set victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final. In his first match on Cincinnati’s extremely fast courts, he hardly missed a shot.

Serra, who hasn’t won back-to-back matches since May, managed to win only 20 points, and two of those came on double-faults. Nadal dropped only 13 points in winning the first nine games of the match.

“It’s important when you’re playing a lot of matches to have one like this,” he said.

Nadal, ranked No. 2 in the world for a record 158 weeks, has closed the gap with No. 1 Federer, who needed three sets to win his opening match in Cincinnati. There is a chance that Nadal could overtake him this week.

“Everyone wants to be No. 1, but now my focus is Cincinnati,” Nadal said. “My only goal is to continue playing like I have the last four or five weeks. I do that, I will have a lot of chances to be No. 1.”

Nadal had a much easier time than third-seeded Novak Djokovic, who struggled with his serve and had to save 10 break points while beating Simone Bolelli 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in his second-round match.

There was one upset on Wednesday, with Nicolas Lapentti beating fifth-seeded David Ferrer 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3. Otherwise, the hottest players in the draw kept their momentum going.

James Blake needed only an hour to beat France’s Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3, adding to his summer success on hard courts.

Last year, Blake made it to the final in Cincinnati before losing to Federer. He’s on the upswing again.

“This is always the time of year I appreciate most,” said Blake, 24-8 on hard courts. “I’ve had my best results on this kind of court, getting ready for the U.S. Open. So it fits my game the best, and I feel good and healthy and strong.”

Also on Wednesday: Safina, Schnyder advance

MONTREAL — Seventh seed Dinara Safina of Russia and ninth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland each advanced to the third round in straight sets at the Rogers Cup.

Safina easily dispatched fellow Russian Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-4.

Schnyder came back from a 2-5 hole in the second set to beat Monica Niculescu 6-1, 7-5 and take the match.

Michelle Larcher de Brito, a 15-year-old qualifier from Portugal, upset 15th seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy in three sets, 6-3, 0-6, 6-3. Top-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic ran into a bit of trouble against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, but finally prevailed 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Slovenian reaches quarterfinals

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Third-seeded Katarina Srebotnik defeated qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Nordic Light Open.

Also, Vera Dushevina edged second-seeded Agnes Szavay 6-4, 7-6 (6). Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska also won in straight sets. The defending champion routed Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1.