RAFAEL NADAL’S BID for a seventh French Open title strengthened on Monday as he disposed of Argentine Juan Monaco in straight sets.
Spaniard Nadal was at his brutal best in his 6-2 6-0 6-0 mauling of Monaco in a match that lasted just 106 minutes.
The second seed, who has won six of the seven French Opens he has contested, hit 23 winners and made eight breaks in his comfortable victory.
Nadal will play compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals.
Almagro had few problems in disposing of Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, running out a 6-4 6-4 6-4 winner in their last-16 match.
Scotland’s Andy Murray had was forced into a tougher tussle before defeating Frenchman Richard Gasquet 1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2.
For the second successive match, Murray looked in trouble after dropping the first set and he regularly reached for his sore back during the encounter.
But after winning the second set, the fourth seed took complete control as he smashed 59 winners – almost double that of his opponent – in an impressive finish.
Murray will meet sixth seed David Ferrer in the last eight after the Spaniard stormed to a 6-3 6-2 6-0 win over countryman Marcel Granollers.
Ferrer was on court for 111 minutes as he smashed 41 winners in his comprehensive victory.
Local hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also booked his spot in the quarter-finals after a five-set win on Monday.
Tsonga defeated Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 3-6 6-4.
Most of the match was completed on Sunday with Tsonga leading 4-2 in the fifth set before bad light forced an end to play.
And when play resumed, Wawrinka took advantage of the stoppage and quickly produced an important break.
He then held serve to make it 4-4 but Tsonga stepped up a gear, winning his own service game before earning the decisive break.
Tsonga will take on top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro also finished a weather-affected match on Monday, defeating Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (8-6) 1-6 6-3 7-5.
The match resumed at the start of the fourth set and Del Potro quickly raced to a 3-1 lead.
And he was relatively comfortable from then on as he sent the seventh seed packing to book a meeting with Roger Federer.
