Rafael Nadal has restored the balance of clay power at the Barcelona Open with a 6-4 6-2 win over Carlos Berlocq after top-seeded compatriot David Ferrer was eliminated by Dmitry Tursunov.
Earlier, Australian number one Bernard Tomic was bundled out of the tournament, beaten by seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 6-0 6-2.
Russian qualifier Tursunov stunned Ferrer 7-5 3-6 6-1 in a major second-round upset.
Nadal, seeded second for the first time ever behind Ferrer, still needed six match points to see off persistent Argentine Berlocq, whom he had beaten on Brazilian clay two months ago.
He may have still been feeling the effects of his Monte Carlo final loss at the weekend to Novak Djokovic, a defeat that denied him an historic ninth consecutive title in the principality.
Nadal owns bragging rights in Barcelona after winning seven titles in eight editions and posting a 36-1 lifetime record at the Catalan venue.
His defeat of Berlocq was his 35th win in a row there since losing to current Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja in the 2003 second round.
He now stands 22-2 on the clay this season in which he only returned to tennis in February after seven months out with knee injuries.
Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic made an easy start over Eduardo Roger-Vasselin of France 6-4 6-2, as the North American made up for a disappointing loss last week in the Monte Carlo second round.
Slovak 11th seed Martin Klizan beat Albert Montanes 6-3 6-4 and veteran Spanish clay campaigner Tommy Robredo continued to find flashes of his best form in a defeat of Bulgarian young gun and 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 6-1.
Spanish 15th seed Marcel Granollers beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-3 6-1.