Nadal beats Juan Monaco to reach Argentina quarterfinals

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Former No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal beat Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday (Friday in Manila) to reach the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open.

Nadal will face Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who defeated Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to advance.

David Ferrer of Spain and Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas also reached the quarterfinals in the clay court event.

Second-seeded Ferrer had a 6-2, 6-2 win over Argentina's Renzo Olivo and will next play Cuevas, who beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-2.

Four players reached the quarterfinals on Wednesday: Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, Dominic Thiem of Austria, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.