Nadal on course but Berdych exits

Nadal returns a ball to Paire. 

Seven-time winner Rafael Nadal advanced to the Barcelona Open quarterfinals by beating France's Benoit Paire 7-6 (2), 6-2 yesterday.

Paire broke Nadal's first service game, but when the fifth-ranked Spaniard found his rhythm he had little trouble extending his winning streak on the Real Club de Tenis' red clay to 36 straight matches.

The match was originally set for Thursday but was postponed due to rain. If the weather holds up, Nadal was to play Albert Ramos later yesterday after the Spaniard beat Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Playing two matches on the same day should be a good test of how improved Nadal's knee is since he returned in February from a nagging case of tendinitis in his left knee that had sidelined him for more than half a year.

The former world No. 1 has reached five straight finals heading into Barcelona, but his loss to Novak Djokovic last weekend that ended his eight-year winning run at Monte Carlo raised questions of whether he's ready to compete for the much more grueling French Open next month.

"We'll see how the day goes. For the moment I've done the important thing which is to win the first match," the Spaniard said.

Nadal last lost at the Barcelona Open 10 years ago to Spain's Davis Cup captain, Alex Corretja.

Also, Spain's Tommy Robredo fought back from a set down to eliminate sixth-ranked Czech Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Robredo will face Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals. The Canadian beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat Martin Klizan 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) after their third-round match was postponed on Thursday with the Slovak up 4-3 in the third set. Kohlschreiber automatically advanced to the semifinals after Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci withdrew

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