Rafael Nadal swept past South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4 in the third round to reach the quarter-finals and move closer to a 10th Barcelona Open title on Thursday.
The Spanish tennis ace converted a break point in each set to to secure a seventh clay-court victory on the trot.
In other third-round matches, fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria defeated Daniel Evans of Britain 7-6(5), 6-2 to set up a quarter-final clash against lucky loser Yuichi Sugita of Japan, who beat seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
The third seeded Nadal, fresh from a 10th Monte Carlo triumph at the weekend, will face South Korea’s Hyeon Chung in the semi-final after Chung beat eighth seed Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4.
Top-seeded Andy Murray also booked his spot in the next round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
Results:
- Dominic Thiem (AUT x4) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
- Yuichi Sugita (JPN) bt Pablo Carreño-Busta (ESP x7) 6-3, 6-3
- Rafael Nadal (ESP x3) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 6-3, 6-4
- Hyeon Chung (KOR) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x8) 6-1, 6-4
- Andy Murray (GBR x1) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP x16) 6-4, 6-4
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