Rome: Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.

Fresh from winning back-to-back titles in Munich and Madrid, Murray was once seen sporting his wedding ring tied around his shoelaces as he beat France's Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.

"I won't lose it if it's tied to my shoelace," Murray told Sky Sport Italia. "As soon as the match is over I put it back on. If I'd keep it in my bag I'd have lost it already."

Murray, who married Kim Sears last month, faced two break points in the sixth game of the opening set as Chardy tried to create another early upset after knocking out Roger Federer in the same round here 12 months ago.

But Murray held on to breeze through the rest of the match by outfoxing Chardy with his touch, powerful serve and backhand drop shots.

Rafael Nadal also cruised into the third round, defeating Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-2, 6-0.

John Isner also progressed following a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win against Argentina's Leonardo Mayer. The American served 11 aces and did not face any break points in the match.

In the women's event, second seed Simona Halep crushed American Alison Riske 6-3 6-0, while seventh seed Ana Ivanovic fell to Russia's Daria Gavrilova after a three-hour battle.

The former French Open champion saved seven match points but eventually fell 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7).

Among Indians, Rohan Bopanna made it to the second round while Sania Mirza reached the quarter finals after scoring fluent victories with their respective partners.

Coming into this event after the Madrid Masters title win, Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin tamed the Argentine combo of Leonardo Mayer and Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round.

Bopanna and Mergea called the shots from the word go, building up a healthy 5-1 lead but Mayer and Monaco reduced the deficit with a gritty fight.

On Tuesday, the top-seeded pair of Sania and Martina Hingis outclassed the Romanian pair of Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

In the quarter finals, they face Germany's Julia Goerges and Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa. (Agencies)