PARIS:
Rafael Nadal battled into the
Paris Masters
quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Australian
Jordan Thompson at Bercy Arena.
World number 61 Thompson gave Nadal plenty to think about, but missed a set point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
Top seed Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by coming from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, has never won the Paris title.
Playing in his first tournament since taking a record-extending 13th French Open crown across the French capital at Roland Garros last month, Nadal will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta for a semi-final spot.
Nadal raced through the opener against Thompson in just 31 minutes, breaking twice and sealing it on his fourth set point after a brief stutter from 40-0 up in the seventh game.
Thompson put up more of a fight in the second set, but missed a set point when 6-5 ahead as Hawkeye showed a Nadal backhand had landed on the baseline.
The world number two held his serve and upped his game in the tie-break to secure victory.
Nadal has still never failed to reach the quarter-finals at Bercy in his eight appearances despite only making the final once, when he lost to David Nalbandian in 2007.
He is bidding to equal Novak Djokovic's record of 36 Masters titles this week.
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