Rafael Nadal makes it 40 consecutive sets won on clay

Shahida Jacobs

There is no stopping Rafael Nadal on clay as he secured another two-set win at the Barcelona Open.

The 10-time Barcelona champion beat fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final encounter with Martin Klizan, who sent Novak Djokovic packing on Wednesday.

Nadal’s victory was his 16th straight win on clay while he has now also won 40 sets in a row on the red dirt.

Second seed Grigor Dimitrov also booked his place in the last eight, but he had his work cut out as he saved a couple of match points before seeing off Malek Jaziri 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8).

He will face Pablo Carreno Busta for a place in the semi-final after the Spaniard beat Adrian Mannarino in three sets.

Meanwhile, the third-ranked Dominic Thiem set up a clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Austrian beat lucky loser Jozef Kovalik 7-6, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes.

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