Nadal breezes into quarters

Madrid - Rafael Nadal safely booked his passage into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters as he saw off Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 in just under an hour and 15 minutes.

The world No 5 started brightly with his forehand in particular doing damage down the line to the Youzhny backhand and he broke the Russian to move 2-1 in front in the first set.

Another blistering forehand down the line opened up another two break points for the Spaniard with Youzhny serving at 2-4 and a cute drop shot at the net secured the double break before two big serves closed out the set in the next game.

An error strewn game from Youzhny then handed the 11-time Grand Slam champion another early break in the second set, but after staving off a break point on his own serve at 2-1, Nadal was broken for the first time in the match as Youzhny levelled at 3-3.

Nadal broke again straight away, though, to ease towards the finishing line and he sealed victory in typical fashion as he scampered to retrieve a Youzhny dropshot before flashing a backhand crosscourt winner past his forlorn opponent.

Results from the sixth day of the ATP Madrid Masters and WTA Madrid Open on Thursday (x denotes seeding):

Men

Third round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x7) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 7-6 (7/5), 7-5
Rafael Nadal (ESP x5) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 6-2, 6-3
Pablo Andujar (ESP) bt Daniel Gimeno (ESP) 5-5 - retired
Kei Nishikori (JPN x14) bt Roger Federer (SUI x2) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
David Ferrer (ESP x4) bt Tommy Haas (GER x13) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

Women

Third round

Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) - walkover
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS x13) 6-3, 6-1
Kaia Kanepi (EST) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 6-3, 6-4
Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER) 6-2, 7-5
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Marion Bartoli (FRA x14) 6-3, 6-2