• French Open, Day Nine

Nadal takes step closer to Murray showdown

Rafael Nadal no longer dominates on clay in the same manner as he has grown accustomed to © Getty Images

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Rafael Nadal remains a major hurdle in the path of Andy Murray after the world No. 1 enjoyed a comfortable victory over Ivan Ljubicic to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday.

Nadal is set to face Murray in the last four if both men progress that far in the tournament, and after a shaky start to his 2011 campaign, the Spaniard looked a little more comfortable against Ljubicic, winning 7-5 6-3 6-3. Uncharacteristic holes were still apparent in the left-hander's game, but Nadal's refusal to be beaten more than made up for his shortcomings on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Ljubicic is by no means a clay-court master, having never won a title on the surface, but he did reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros back in 2006. A repeat never really looked on the cards against Nadal, despite the fact the five-time champion found himself under more pressure than has been witnessed in previous years, dropping his serve on two occasions.

Having won six of their eight meetings prior to Monday's clash, it was no surprise when Nadal broke early, but he then conceded his advantage as Ljubicic found a way to regularly pin his foe behind the baseline. Presented with a break point of his own, Ljubicic appeared to have choked when he sent an easy forehand winner looping up off the net cord, but he rescued the situation with a magnificent backhand volley for parity at 3-3.

Nadal plays the big points better than anybody in the game though, and he moved ahead again when breaking the world No. 37 for 6-5, before serving out to love for the opening set.

Ljubicic faced more problems in the first service game of the second set, saving two break points, and a wild forehand eventually did gift Nadal the upper hand at 4-3. The Croat had hit more aces and winners than his more illustrious rival, but too often unforced errors proved his undoing as Nadal waited for mistakes to arrive.

That proved the case again in the third, with Ljubicic twice sinking the ball into the net to dish out another break, although he did delay Nadal's victory march by penetrating the Spaniard's serve once more. The end result was inevitable though, confirmed by a long backhand from Ljubicic as Nadal booked his place in the last eight.

Juan Ignacio Chela awaits Andy Murray in the quarter-finals © Getty Images

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Nadal remains firmly on course for the defence of his French Open crown, but must now face the only man who has ever beaten him at Roland Garros. Robin Soderling, a two-time finalist in Paris, will play Nadal at the French Open for the third consecutive year, after the Swede ended home favourite Gilles Simon's campaign.

Soderling raced through the opening two sets, and although the fifth seed let a lead slip in the third, triumphed in a tiebreak to clinch a 6-2 6-3 7-6(5) victory.

If Murray is to set up that potential semi-final showdown, he must first get past Viktor Troicki and then Juan Ignacio Chela after the Argentinian beat Alejandro Falla 4-6 6-2 1-6 7-6(5) 6-2. In a match that lasted seven minutes shy of four hours, Chela emerged victorious despite Falla hitting an astonishing 65 winners to his own count of 37.

On the other side of the draw, Gael Monfils delighted the home crowd as he set up a quarter-final clash with Roger Federer after a hard-fought victory over seventh seed David Ferrer. The pair began their fourth-round encounter on Sunday, but were forced to resume on Monday after play was suspended after three sets.

Ferrer has made steady progress in Paris, and stormed through the fourth set to set up a decider. However, the Spaniard's steady style was not good enough against the athletic Frenchman. In an absorbing clash lasting over four hours, it was Monfils who emerged triumphant 6-4 2-6 7-5 1-6 8-6.

Ferrer's ability to grind down his opponent has seen him claim two titles already this season, but he was left to rue his inability to convert his chances as 15 break point opportunities passed him by.

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