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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Rafael Nadal showed no signs of a tender back Tuesday, defeating fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the Rio Open. Jeff Allen . It was No. 1-ranked Nadals first match since losing three weeks ago in the Australia Open final against Stanislas Wawrinka, a match the Spaniard was a heavy favourite to win. Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the final in Australia, bringing up questions again about his health to start a season. A year ago he was coming back from a left knee injury, which he overcame to win the French and US Open. "Daniel is a specialist on clay, so for me it was a great match after so much time off after the final in Australia because of the back problems," Nadal said. "I practiced very little. So I was happy to get back, and get back with a victory." Nadal looked fine on the outdoor red clay and seems headed for a possible final Sunday against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Ferrer defeated Jeremy Chardy in his first-round match 6-2, 6-3. Nadal broke Gimeno-Traver in the sixth game en route to taking the first set. The two were even in the second set until Nadal broke in the 11th game and then served out to win. Nadal has the best clay-court record in the Open Era, 294-21. "For Rio, for the Brazilian people, for everybody its nice because hes No. 1 in the world," third-seeded Fabio Fognini said of Nadal. "For the tournament, especially because its the first year, I think it will help." Other seeded players advancing on Tuesday included: No. 3 Fognini, No. 4 Tommy Robredo, No. 7 Juan Monaco and 8 Pablo Andujar. Ousted were No. 5 Nicolas Almagro and No. 6 Marcel Granollers. In the combined WTA event, top-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic won her first-round match, beating Colombias Mariana Duque-Marino 6-4, 6-4. Second-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy was eliminated in a 6-4, 6-4 to Spains Lourdes Dominguez Lino. Unseeded Teliana Pereira defeated No. 4 Alexandra Cadantu 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Brazilian woman ranked in the top 100 in 23 years. The last was Andrea Vieira. Brazils most famous womens player is Maria Bueno, who won seven Grand Slams, the last at the US Open in 1966. Donnie Avery . Rask stoned Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk on first period breakaways and went on to help the Bruins stretch their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens on Wednesday night. Jamaal Charles . - Canadian Augusta James, American Liz Breed, Mexicos Gabriela Lopez and Australias Su-Hyun Oh all fired 4-under 67s to share top spot on the leaderboard on Tuesday after the opening round of the Canadian womens amateur championship.NASHVILLE -- Brandt Snedeker injured his left leg when he lost his balance and landed awkwardly when he hopped off a Segway in China. Snedeker was at a corporate outing at Sheshan International on Monday when he injured himself. He immediately withdrew from the Australian PGA Championship and returned home to Nashville. Doctors say he bruised his left tibia and strained the anterior cruciate ligamennt in his left knee. Brandon Flowers. Snedeker says surgery will not be required. He says his injuries could heal in a couple of weeks, or it might take as much as two months. He is scheduled to play the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in California on Dec. 5-8, and the Franklin Templeton Shootout a week later in Florida. Snedeker missed six weeks earlier this year when he cracked a rib. ' ' '