Nadal broke the 47th-ranked Serb seven times on the outdoor clay surface, winning 10 straight games at one stage, to put the Spaniards on course to clinching a second-round berth in an unprecedented single day.
Doubles will be played Saturday afternoon with Spain's Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez taking on Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki after Novak Djokovic was left out by Serbia's captain.
The third-ranked Djokovic was upset 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) by David Ferrer in the first singles match at Terra Mitica amusement park.
Djokovic had called for Troicki's inclusion at his expense before the decision was made.
"I think after today's match, Victor would be the best option," Djokovic said.
Nadal made it 120 wins in his last 123 matches on clay by dominating Tipsarevic with the baseline game that has given him the last four French Opens.
After breaking the Serb to lead 3-1 in the first set, Nadal didn't drop a game until the third set. Breaks in the third and seventh games secured the victory and moved Spain closer to a 15th straight home series win.
With the Tour schedule mostly featuring hard court tournaments, Djokovic said the change of surface was proving decisive.
"I want to play the best possible but it couldn't be today, I couldn't break his rhythm on this surface," said Djokovic, who was playing on clay for the first time since Roland Garros. "I made more errors than David, especially in the crucial moments."
Djokovic hit 68 unforced errors against the 12th-ranked Spaniard, who broke seven times, including the very first game.
The Serb brought it back to 2-2 before Ferrer regained the momentum to clinch the first set when Djokovic hit into the net.
Djokovic was broken to love to trail 2-0 in the second before the two players exchanged breaks. Djokovic then cut it to 4-3 when Ferrer's shot bounced off the net and back on to his side of the court.
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Discuss: Sound off on tennis at Newsvine.comBut Djokovic hit into the net to drop serve, and Ferrer sent a forehand winner down the line to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
"A different surface means a different bounce, and it's not easy (to get used to)," said Ferrer, who recovered from a defeat in the Dubai Championships final to Djokovic last week to square their career record at 4-4.
Djokovic never looked comfortable on the red surface and Ferrer's forehand - which provided 20 of his 31 winners - helped take the clinching set to the tiebreaker.
Play only started Saturday after crews repaired damage to the specially built structure brought on by strong winds a day earlier.
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