Madrid, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Three-time champion Rafael Nadal was an easy third-round winner Thursday at the $5 million Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event.
The world No. 1 superstar handled Finnish fellow left-hander Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-4 on the red clay at the Magic Box.
Nadal, who failed to title in his last two clay court events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka in last year's Madrid finale.
In addition to his titles in 2005, 2010 and last year, the record 26-time Masters champion Nadal was also a Madrid runner-up in 2009 and 2011.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be sixth-seeded Czech slugger Tomas Berdych, who came from behind on Day 5 to beat 12th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The reigning French and U.S. Open champion Nadal beat last week's Portugal Open runner-up Berdych in the 2010 Wimbledon final.
Also, 10th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori upended eighth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) at this French Open tune-up.
