Four-time former champion Rafael Nadal has reached the Roland Garros quarter-finals without dropping a set after he recorded his 200th clay-court match win on Monday.

The second-seeded Spaniard hit 27 winners and committed just as many unforced errors to overcome No. 24 seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 35 minutes.

Nadal has now reached the last eight for the 14th time in his past 16 Grand Slam championships. He is bidding to become just the second man in history to win five or more Roland Garros titles, after Swede Bjorn Borg (1974-75, 1978-81).

He will next meet his Spanish compatriot and No. 19 seed Nicolas Almagro. The pair met in the 2008 Roland Garros quarter-finals and also in the recent Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open semi-finals. Nadal leads 6-0 overall in their career series.

"It's going to be very difficult because the way he plays is really excellent," Nadal said. "He's managed to maintain the same level here in the tournament. It's going to be complicated; he's going to be very aggressive. It's normal. He knows how to do this. And as far as I'm concerned, I'll try and play my way and do my best. I'll do my best so that he feels a bit uncomfortable."

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In an all-left-hander encounter, Nadal immediately stamped his authority on the pair's first meeting for two years by breaking Bellucci’s serve in the opening game. The Sao Paulo resident broke back in the fourth game, when he rushed Nadal into a backhand error off a forehand approach. Bellucci won seven straight points to 40/0 at 2-2, before Nadal sprang into action by winning four straight games to clinch the first set in 39 minutes.

Nadal threatened to run away with the second set, but Bellucci highlighted his potential as a genuine heir to three-time former Roland Garros champion and World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten.

On two occasions the pair exchanged service breaks – in the second and third games, then again in the ninth and 10th games – but at 5-5, Nadal produced an outstanding backhand crosscourt pass off a powerful forehand approach by Bellucci to gain a crucial break. Nadal closed out the 61-minute second set to 30, when Bellucci hit a backhand into the net.

"I succeeded well because I managed to play even better," said Nadal. "I could shoot into the balls the way I wanted to, mainly the backhand shots, but also my forehand... I think I served better today than any other day, and I'm very satisfied because I think I've improved. I've not yet dropped a set."

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For Bellucci, it was a missed opportunity. The 22 year old kept fighting in the third set, holding his own in baseline rallies, but Nadal capitalised on a lapse in concentration to break Bellucci to love for a 3-2 lead. Nadal maintained a two-game cushion to extend his perfect record to 19-0 on clay this year and to 35-1 at the clay-court Grand Slam championship in Paris.

Nadal has won three clay-court titles coming into Roland Garros, at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Verdasco), the Internazionali BNL d'Italia (d. Ferrer) and the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open (d. Federer). He is riding a 19-match winning streak.

Bellucci, currently No. 29 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, dropped to a 25-13 match record on the season (19-8 on clay). Kuerten was the last Brazilian to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2004.

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Almagro snapped a three-match losing streak against his seventh-seeded compatriot Fernando Verdasco with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in two hours and 12 minutes. 

"Maybe it looked easy, but it wasn't," said Almagro. "It was a very difficult match against a player like Verdasco. He's part of the top players in the world, and I managed to lead the match for the two first sets.
I knew exactly what I had to do, I was very much focused, and I knew this was the key in the match. I played an almost perfect match. I played very good tennis at all times in the match.

"Maybe the only problem was my first serve. But I need to work on my first serve. That's my weak point. I'm very happy I won, but I want to make progress."

Almagro improved to 28-13 on the year, after hitting six aces and 40 winners past Verdasco for a place in his second Grand Slam championship quarter-final.

He said of playing Nadal next: "If I thought he was unbeatable I'd pack up and go home. But not at all. I know how to attack him. I've done so in Madrid, and at many times in the match. So I'll continue on the same track."

Verdasco, 26, a winner of one ATP World Tour title at the SAP Open in San Jose (d. Roddick) in February, dropped to a 33-10 season tally.