Nadal, Ferrer set up quarter-final clash

Rafael Nadal won a record 32nd straight match at the French Open, beating Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

Nadal is an eight-time French Open champion with a 63-1 record on the red clay in Paris with his only loss came in the fourth round in 2009, when he was a four-time defending champion for the first time.

Another upset never seemed possible this time, despite complaints of pain in his back that slowed his serves in the previous round.

Playing on Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal’ss favourite court in the world, the top-seeded Spaniard controlled the match from the start.

He then won 17 straight points to open the second set, taking a 4-0 lead before finally sending a backhand wide to make it 15-15 in the fifth game.

All Spanish affair

Spaniard David Ferrer set up a likely quarter-final against Nadal, who beat him in last year’s final, with a 6-3 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 victory over Kevin Anderson.

The fifth seed reached his 10th straight grand slam last eight by beating the 2.03 metre South African, who towers nearly 30 cm above him.

Ferrer dominated baseline rallies with the 19th seed in the first two sets before they exchanged breaks in the third and Anderson worked the angles better, sending Ferrer scampering and sliding and taking the tiebreak when the 32-year-old put a forehand into the net.

Ferrer fought straight back in the fourth, unleashing a string of forehand winners to break Anderson in the second and fourth games to win the match.

Murray finds rhythm

Andy Murray held on through a tough third set and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Murray was up a break early in the third set, but a fired-up Verdasco saved 11 break points before finally breaking Murray to 4-4.

In the tiebreaker, the seventh-seeded Murray won the first three points.

Although Verdasco won the next three, Murray took control again and served out the victory on his first match point.

Murray, who last year became the first British man to win the Wimbledon title since 1936, will next face Gael Monfils of France.

In the women’s tournament, fourth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania beat Sloane Stephens of the United States 6-4, 6-3, and 10th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy defeated sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Earlier, Andrea Petkovic overcame an inconsistent serve and unseeded Kiki Bertens to reach the quarterfinals with a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.