Paris Masters: Rafael Nadal marches into quarters
Top seed Nadal got the better of Thompson 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) to set up a last-eight clash with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta
Paris: Rafael Nadal battled past Australian Jordan Thompson in straight sets to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday, as Diego Schwartzman moved within one win of securing an ATP Tour Finals debut.
Top seed Nadal got the better of Thompson 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) to set up a last-eight clash with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who must win the title this week to have a chance of snatching the last Tour Finals spot from Schwartzman.
Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by beating Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, is bidding for a first Paris indoors triumph which would draw him level with Novak Djokovic on a record 36 Masters titles.
The world number two 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.
Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka made the quarter-finals with a comeback 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over in-form Andrey Rublev of Russia. Wawrinka will next face German fourth seed Alexander Zverev who defeated home hope Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (13/11), 6-7 (7/9), 6-4
Argentinian Schwartzman thrashed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. The sixth seed raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in only an hour and will face third seed Daniil Medvedev after the Russian’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Milos Raonic edged out Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3. In-form Spaniard Carreno Busta kept his Tour Finals hopes alive with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos.
