Nadal powers into Madrid quarters

Latest results

Rafael Nadal produced a brutal display of hitting to beat compatriot Tommy Robredo at the Madrid Masters.

World number two Nadal has been the focus of enormous attention in the Spanish capital and Robredo at times looked overawed by the occasion.

Nadal, wearing strapping on both knees, broke twice in both sets for a 6-2 6-4 win and a place in the last eight.

He goes on to face 10th seed Radek Stepanek, who edged past Jose Acasuso 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (7-5).

"My knee feels fine, I'm just icing it for prevention," said Nadal. "I played much better today than yesterday.

"That's a good sign. I'm in the quarters now and that's all I'm going to think about for the moment."

In Thursday's late match, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez eased to a 7-5 6-3 win over an out-of-form Guillermo Coria.

QUARTER-FINALS Nadal v Stepanek Ginepri v Ferrer Ljubicic v Gonzalez Nalbandian v Karlovic

Fifth seed David Nalbandian reached the last eight with a 6-3 7-5 win over Thomas Johansson.

Nalbandian, who was runner-up in Madrid last year, began confidently with a break in the fourth game to go 3-1 up.

The Argentine held on to take the set and got the decisive break in game 11 of the second to secure a clash with Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.

Nalbandian lost last year's final to Marat Safin and has struggled to find consistency this year, but is hopeful of another good run on Madrid's fast indoor courts.

"It's difficult to compare with last year, but overall I feel comfortable here," said Nalbandian.

"The altitude is similar to a few other tournaments."

Karlovic followed up wins over Greg Rusedski and Andy Roddick by beating Dominik Hrbaty 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-3).

Elsewhere, Robby Ginepri beat third seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 7-5 and goes on to face David Ferrer, who beat sixth seed Mariano Puerta 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4.

Eighth seed Ivan Ljubicic remains the Tour's in-form player, beating Olivier Rochus 6-4 6-4 as he looks for a third title in a row.