Beijing, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Former No. 1 Rafael Nadal and hot Andy Murray were among Thursday's second-round winners at the $2.5 million China Open.
The second-seeded Nadal handled German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-4, while the sixth-seeded Murray mauled Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-2, 6-2 at Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center.
Nadal was the Beijing champ in 2005 and last year's runner-up here to Novak Djokovic. The Spanish star also captured an Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
Murray captured his first title in 15 months with a victory in Shenzhen, China, last week.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Slovak Martin Klizan, while Murray will take on fourth-seeded U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic.
Nadal, playing his first tennis in three months after battling a right wrist injury, said he was happy to be in the quarterfinals in his comeback tournament, but added that there was still plenty of work to do.
"In general I need to improve. It's obvious. My serve worked well today. But in general I need more rhythm on the legs, more rhythm on the shots. I am playing okay, trying to not miss a lot, trying to play with not too many risks. That's what I did today. It's the only way to have matches, only way to have rhythm."
Third-seeded 2011 China Open titlist Tomas Berdych handled Serbian wild card Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4, while the two-time Beijing runner-up Cilic pasted Portuguese Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-3 and fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov grounded Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-4 on Day 4.
An upset came when the qualifier Klizan cut down seventh-seeded Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 3-0, retired.
Friday's other quarterfinals will pit the world No. 1 Djokovic against Dimitrov and Berdych versus eighth-seeded American John Isner.
Djokovic is a four-time Beijing champion. He beat Nadal in last year's final for a second straight title here.
The 2014 Beijing champion will collect $604,000.
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