MONTREAL: Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem advanced into the third round of the ATP Montreal Masters on Wednesday, with Thiem achieving a personal best in Canada.

Top-seeded holder Nadal suffered through a two-hour rain interruption before dismissing Britain鈥檚 Daniel Evans 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

Austrian second seed Thiem, who claimed a clay title at the weekend at home in Kitzbuehel before crossing the Atlantic, won his first match in Canada after five losses, defeating home hero Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

With weather forecasts dicey for the next few days, the Spanish top seed got a taste of the conditions he might face as the 18-time Grand Slam champion defends his Canadian title.

鈥淭oday, the main thing was win. I鈥檝e been playing and practicing more or less well. Now is the moment to compete,鈥� Nadal said. 鈥淭oday I competed enough well to be through. Tomorrow is another challenge.鈥�

That test will be against Argentina鈥檚 Guido Pella, who beat Radu Albot 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/2).

Nadal is seeking his third title of the season and now stands 38-6 in 2019. He was playing for the first time since losing a Wimbledon semifinal to Roger Federer a month ago.

Thiem was relieved to have broken his duck in Canada by finally winning a match.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great feeling. It鈥檚 not only the first match win here, but also against a great player,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he court is pretty fast. It was a huge transition from clay to here.

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy with the way I served. I鈥檓 also happy that I could swing free some flat serves again.鈥�

Thiem on Thursday faces 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, who defeated Australian John Millman 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal said that re-starting on cement after a long post-Wimbledon pause takes some adjustment.

鈥淭his is just the first day, first matches are always tough the first time on hardcourt,鈥� he said.

鈥淎fter Wimbledon always the mind goes down a little bit. I had a long clay court season, then grass, so you don鈥檛 relax.

鈥淲hen you finish Wimbledon, your body loses a little bit that tension, so it needs little bit of time to recover.鈥�

Nadal advanced after two hours of play but because of rain it took almost four and a half hours after the first ball was struck.

Injury-prone Milos Raonic retired to hand 18-year-old fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime a 6-3, 3-6 win.

Raonic, a 2013 finalist here, was unable to go on after winning the second set to square the contest.

Auger-Aliassime got a walkover win against his compatriot last June on grass in Stuttgart when Raonic suffered a back injury.

The senior Canadian beat the youngster in spring, 2018 in Indian Wells in their only completed match.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year鈥檚 Canada runner-up, was dumped out 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by Poland鈥檚 Hubert Hurkacz, whom the world number five had defeated in three prior matches. Japan鈥檚 fifth seed Kei Nishikori was unable to profit from a match point, losing in 3 hours nine minutes to Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Spain鈥檚 10th seed Robert Bautista Agut advanced while number 12 John Isner was sent out in straight sets.