Rafael Nadal Defeats Kei Nishikori to Advance at 2013 French Open

It appears that things are getting easier for Rafael Nadal the further he advances in the French Open. In his fourth-round match, he had little trouble defeating Kei Nishikori by a score of 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.

This was an important match for the favorite, as he did not want to be upset on his birthday. ESPNTennis provides a look at the cake waiting for Nadal after the match:

The Spanish star was able to win the first set despite some good serving by his Japanese opponent. Nishikori got 75 percent of his first serves in play and was only broken once early on.

Of course, this was enough for Nadal and he took the opening set 6-4.

Things broke open in the second set, when the No. 3 seed showed why he is the King of Clay. He won 64.4 percent of the total points and dominated from start to finish with a 6-1 victory.

Roland Garros' Twitter account showed his ability to cover plenty of ground by staying far behind the line in this set:

He then continued his strong play in the final set to knock out his opponent in just over two hours. Nadal won the match due to his great return ability and near flawless serving. He was never broken and was simply in another class compared to his opponent, who did not make too many mistakes on the day.

This puts an end to a solid run at Roland Garros for Nishikori. The No. 13 seed had never advanced beyond the second round in his career at this event, so a career-best fourth-round finish is something to be proud of.

In his three victories, he displayed solid overall play to give him confidence heading into the rest of the season. At only 23 years old, there will certainly be more deep runs in his future.

However, the true story of the match is the success of Nadal. He came into this tournament as the overwhelming favorite due to his seven career championships at the French Open in eight years.

Additionally, he had won his last three tournaments and had enough momentum to prove that his knee injury was behind him.

The superstar struggled in his early matches, dropping a set to both Daniel Brands and Martin Klizan. At this point, it appears that any issues are behind him as he looks to win his eighth-career title at Roland Garros.

He will face the winner of Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals. If he continues to play like he did on Monday, it is tough to imagine anyone beating him.

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