Nadal Reaches Rome QFs; Wawrinka Ousts Soderling

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal has not lost a match in the month of April since 2005.

World No. 3 Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a fifth title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia as he defeated Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.

Nadal capitalised on his fifth break point to go up 3-1 in the opening set, and cushioned his lead as he went two for two on his opportunities in the second set. Though Hanescu put pressure on Nadal’s serve towards the end of the match, the Spaniard fought off five break point chances before serving out the victory in one hour and 22 minutes.

"I played with less intensity after the 4-1," Nadal said. "It's impossible to play with less intensity at this level and if you stop your intensity a little bit, the other player can get you in big trouble. Yes, I was lucky. I saved a few shots with a good serve and a good forehand so the important thing is that I won 6-2, and I had some problems with myself in the last two games but I saved them."

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The 23-year-old Nadal extended his clay-court winning streak in the month of April to 56 straight matches, dating back to a loss against Russian Igor Andreev in the 2005 Valencia quarter-finals.

The Spaniard is attempting to win his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title this week, which would match Andre Agassi’s record mark. Nadal claimed four of those titles in Rome, winning consecutive crowns from 2005-07 and recapturing the title with victory over Novak Djokovic last year.

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He opened his 2010 clay campaign with confidence two weeks ago, winning his sixth straight title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters as he lost just 14 games in five matches.

Nadal will take a 4-0 record into his quarter-final match against Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka. The 26th-ranked Wawrinka prevented a rematch between Nadal and Robin Soderling as he defeated the fifth-seeded Swede 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 17 minutes.

"He is a very tough opponent," Nadal said of Wawrinka. "It will be a very difficult match. He [won] today easy against Robin. I didn't see the match, but he must be playing realy well to beat Robin."

Wawrinka, who won the clay-court title last month in Casablanca, made his breakthrough two years ago at this tournament when he reached the final with victories over Marat Safin, Andy Murray, Juan Carlos Ferrero, James Blake and Andy Roddick (l. to Djokovic).

World No. 7 Soderling, who had stunned Nadal last year in the fourth round of Roland Garros, had come to Rome from a runner-up effort Sunday in Barcelona.