Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2016: Thursday Tennis Results, Latest Schedule

Top seed Rafael Nadal booked his place in the quarter-finals at the Barcelona Open with a routine 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes on Thursday.

The eight-time former champion was challenged early on by veteran Montanes but found his groove midway through the opening set and never relinquished control.

Kei Nishikori looked a little shaky at times in his two-set win over Jeremy Chardy, but the Japanese star booked his spot in the next round with relative ease.

Here’s a look at Thursday's matches and results:

Result	Score
(1) Rafael Nadal bt. Albert Montanes	6-2, 6-2
(2) Kei Nishikori bt. (13) Jeremy Chardy	6-3, 7-5
(10) Philipp Kohlschreiber bt. (7) Feliciano Lopez	6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3
(12) Fabio Fognini bt. (8) Viktor Troicki	6-3, 6-2
(6) Benoit Paire bt. (9) Pablo Cuevas	6-2, 6-4
(16) Andrey Kuznetsov bt. Radek Stepanek	6-2, 6-4
Malek Jaziri bt. Alexander Zverev	7-6 (5), 6-4
(11) Alexandr Dolgopolov bt. Karen Khachanov	6-4, 7-5

To access the schedule for this year’s Barcelona Open, visit the ATP's official website.  

Recap

Fresh from his Monte Carlo Masters victory and an opening win in Barcelona against Marcel Granollers, Nadal got off to a perfect start in his third-round match, following a routine hold with an early break of serve for 2-0.

Montanes showed some impressive form and movement, though, to break straight back and regain parity at 2-2, and it looked like Nadal, 29, could be in for a tough day's work, per tennis commentator Brad Gilbert:

However, it did not take long for the 14-time Grand Slam winner to kick up a gear, and his opponent simply could not stay with him.

The former world No. 1 broke again for 4-2, an excellent reflex volley giving him the vital advantage, and he then won a fourth consecutive game at 5-2 to seal the opening set in just over half an hour, per TennisTV:

Montanes stopped the rot early in the second set, finally getting another service hold on the board to tie at 1-1 as he looked for a way back into the match.

It was not forthcoming. Nadal's power was simply too much on Pista Central, and he showed some deft touches at the net too.

A stinging forehand deep to the left corner of the court sealed another break of serve for Nadal and put him into a 3-1 lead.

After a run of service holds, he then claimed two match points at 5-2 in the second set, and after squandering the first, he produced another driving forehand down the line to win in 65 minutes. Here's a look at the winning point, via TennisTV:

Per Radio Marca Mallorca's Pau Ferragut, he told Teledeporte he needs to focus on his recovery in the coming days:

Defending champion Nishikori struggled to get his serve going against the 13th-seeded Chardy, but some fine play from the baseline saw the second-seeded player advance during the afternoon.

Chardy twice broke Nishikori's serve and did a fantastic job pressuring his opponent all day, but he couldn't cope with Nishikori's accuracy and ability to extend the rallies. The 26-year-old produced several moments of magic, including this clever winner:

Nishikori hasn't looked as dominant in Barcelona as he did last year, but his solid, defensive style of play will make it difficult for anyone to get past the Japanese, even when his serve isn't clicking. A meeting between him and Nadal at some stage of the tournament seems inevitable.