Clay king Rafa sets up all-Spanish quarter-final

Rafael Nadal looks determined to hang onto his crown as the king of clay.

The world number one maintained his record of not having dropped a set at this year’s French Open with a 6-1 6-2 6-1 victory over Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the fourth round yesterday.

Lajovic, 23, was playing in only his second grand slam tournament and it was certainly a baptism of fire for his first match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Nadal won the first five games before Lajovic finally got on the board but the challenger’s start to the second set was even worse, Nadal winning the first 17 points, although Lajovic then managed to hold two successive service games.

He had three chances to break the Nadal serve and make it 5-3 but the eight-time champion fought back.

Lajovic managed a final hurrah by breaking the Spaniard’s serve at 0-5 in the third set but Nadal, who has lost just 23 games in four matches, promptly broke again to clinch victory in a sprightly hour and 33 minutes.

Nadal revealed after his previous match against Leonardo Mayer that he was again feeling the back problem that so badly affected him in the Australian Open final against Stan Wawrinka.

It clearly has not hampered his progress so far but the draw has been kind and he will face his first real test in the quarter-finals against compatriot David Ferrer.

The fifth seed, who Nadal beat in the final 12 months ago, lost his first set of the tournament against Kevin Anderson on Sunday but was nevertheless an impressive 6-3 6-3 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 winner.

Ferrer was well beaten last year but this match, his 10th consecutive grand slam quarter-final, will have an extra edge because of the outcome of their last meeting.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray pulled off one of his best French Open victories to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time yesterday.

The Wimbledon champion survived a wobble in the third set to defeat 24th seed Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 7-6 (7/3).

In the last eight Murray will play his old junior rival Gael Monfils, who delighted the home fans with an unusually straightforward victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Murray said: “It was an unbelievable atmosphere, I really enjoyed myself. We played some great points, he fought extremely hard in the third set.

“I was a bit nervous at the end but I’m glad I managed to get through. I was trying to play more aggressive because I knew I’d be a little bit tired in my legs. Thankfully the balls were going in; that doesn’t always happen.

“I played Gael for the first time when I was 10 and he was 11. He’s one of the best players to watch, he’s so entertaining, and he’s a really nice guy. I’m really looking forward to it.”

In the women’s singles, Andrea Petkovic’s advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in three years with a 1-6 6-2 7-5 win over Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens.