Nadal finds his form to power to quarter-final

Rafael Nadal won 17 games in a row to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open — and then apologised to his opponent for the one-sided nature of the scoreline.

The defending champion’s 6-2 6-0 6-0 victory over Juan Monaco meant he has lost only 19 games in his first four matches, the fewest at Roland Garros since Guillermo Vilas in 1982.

Nadal said: “He started the match playing aggressive, playing good shots. In my opinion, he was unlucky in the first set. That’s my feeling, 6-2 was too much. Later, I was very happy the way I played. I feel very sorry for him.”

Nadal now meets 12th seed Nicolas Almagro, but with every match it seems more and more unlikely that anyone will be able to deny him a record seventh title at Roland Garros.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vowed to “fight like a lion” against world number one Novak Djokovic today after battling into the last eight for the first time.

The entertaining Frenchman was back on court yesterday against Stanislas Wawrinka after darkness forced an end to play last night, with Tsonga 4-2 up in the fifth. Wawrinka immediately retrieved the break but Tsonga struck again with the Swiss player serving to stay in the match to clinch a 6-4 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 3-6 6-4 victory.

Juan Martin Del Potro saw off Tomas Berdych 7-6 (8/6) 1-6 6-3 7-5 and set up a rematch with Roger Federer.

Sixth seed David Ferrer outclassed fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-2 6-0 and now faces Andy Murray.