Top seed Rafael Nadal rallied from a set back to beat Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round at the Barcelona Open in Spain.

The 34-year-old Spaniard, who suffered a surprise quarter-final exit at the hands of Andrey Rublev in the Monte Carlo Masters last week, dropped the first set against the world No.111 before pulling through Ivashka.

It was Nadal's 62nd win in the tournament against just four defeats.

"He played well. He played at a very high level, and I didn't, especially at the beginning," said Nadal who has lost only once on clay to a player outside the top 100 since 2004.

"Then I think I changed a little bit the way I played. I was more aggressive later, and the match changed a lot," Nadal added.

"I'm happy I fought hard today to be in the third round. That's what I needed after the loss at Monte Carlo."

Top seed and home-country favorite Novak Djokovic needed just 68 minutes to top South Korean Kwon Soon-woo 6-1, 6-3 and advance to the quarterfinals in Belgrade, Serbia.

Djokovic capitalized on five of his eight service break opportunities in the win. In the next round, he'll meet fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, the eighth seed, who took three sets to oust Arthur Rinderknech of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

(With input from agencies)