TORONTO (AFP) - Rafael Nadal waited out a six-hour rain delay before taking the court and winning his 25th match in a row, beating Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of an ATP Masters Series event.

The Spanish world number two spent a frustrating day along with the rest of the field as downpours prevented an on-time start to his first match since lifting the Wimbledon title over Roger Federer two and a half weeks ago.

But once Nadal overcame an early break from Canadian-born American Levine, the Spaniard motored ahead to remain undefeated since Rome last May.

"Today wasn't my best match obviously, but I didn't feel very bad after the beginning," said the Spaniard. "I know it's a tough tournament and I'll have to play better tomorrow.

"If not, I'll have a lot of problems."

Nadal said that his improvement will take a specific course as he faces Russian Igor Andreev, who upset 16th seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

"I have to move better than today, that's for sure. That will make everything a little bit easier.

"The movement is a little bit different here on hard. And I have to be more aggressive on the backhand."

Compatriot David Ferrer wasted no time either once the starting gates were released on all six match courts, advancing over American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4.

Croatian Marin Cilic scored the first upset as he put out Spanish 12th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4. Swede Robin Soderling accounted for number 13 Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4.

French 10th seed Richard Gasquet, a finalist on clay at Stuttgart, beat Andrey Kudryavtsev of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

Marat Safin finished off a contest begun the night before with just two games completed, concluding the first round to hand a third American his exit papers.

The two-time Grand Slam champion, who made a surprise Wimbledon semi-finals appearance where he went down to Federer, defeated Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-3.

Nadal had to recover from 1-3 down in the opening set against Levine as the 20-year-old now living in Florida and ranked 123rd caught him by surprise on the windy early stages.

But two breaks from the Spaniard sealed the first set and Nadal concluded the match after two more in the second.

Nadal is playing for the fifth consecutive year in the country where he won his first-ever hardcourt title. He now stands 12-3 in Canada as he awaits a winner from Czech Tomas Berdych and Russian Igor Andreev.