Nadal breezes into Madrid quarter- finals

MADRID: Rafael Nadal safely booked his
passage into the quarter-finals of the
Madrid Masters as he saw off Mikhail
Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 in just under an hour and
15 minutes.
The World No.5 started brightly with his
forehand in particular doing damage down
the line to the Youzhny backhand and he
broke the Russian to move 2-1 in front in
the first set.
Another blistering forehand down the line
opened up another two break points for the
Spaniard with Youzhny serving at 2-4 and a
cute drop shot at the net secured the
double break before two big serves closed
out the set in the next game.
An error strewn game from Youzhny then
handed the 11-time Grand Slam
champion another early break in the second
set, but after staving off a break point on
his own serve at 2-1, Nadal was broken for
the first time in the match as Youzhny
levelled at 3-3.
Nadal broke again straight away, though,
to ease towards the finishing line and he
sealed victory in typical fashion as he
scampered to retrieve a Youzhny dropshot
before flashing a backhand crosscourt
winner past his forlorn opponent. (AFP)