Nadal Powers Into Monte Carlo Quarters

Rafael Nadal stepped up his campaign for an historic ninth straight title at the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday as the third seed won his 44th match in a row at the venue with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of German Philip Kohlschreiber.

The Spanish great lifted his record at the seaside Country Club to 46-1 at a tournament where he suffered his lone defeat in 2003 against Guillermo Coria. Nadal will next line up in the quarterfinals on Friday against Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Germany’s Florian Mayer with an identical 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

Nadal advanced in 80 minutes and earned revenge for his only loss to Kohlschreiber from 10 meetings, a grass quarter-final defeat from last summer in Halle. This win was his 16th in a row after successive titles this season in Indian Wells and Acapulco.

“It was a great win for me,” said Nadal, who follows the same script for every victory. “I’m very happy. Every match is a new one for me, every day is completely different. We will see what goes on tomorrow. But I just love playing here and feel a great emotion every time I step onto the court here.”

Unpredictable Italian Fabio Fognini sprung a surprise on fourth seed Tomas Berdych, dismissing the Czech 6-4, 6-2. French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga thrilled his home fans as he overwhelmed Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-0.

“It’s difficult to assess my game because he was not really playing his best,” Tsonga said of the below-par Melzer. “But I’m happy I was able to do the job. When you play tennis, you always try for perfection. Of course, sometimes you can’t reach that. I’m happy with my game today. Of course, there are always some things you can improve.”

Andy Murray was battling to save his world number two ranking as he faced Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss 13th seed could do compatriot Roger Federer a favour if he beats Murray, which would knock the Scot out of his ATP position behind Novak Djokovic and push Federer from third to second again.

The world number one Serb was testing his injured right ankle for a second straight day as he played Argentine Juan Monaco.