Madrid Open 2016: Thursday Tennis Scores, Results, Updated Schedule

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal joined defending champion Andy Murray in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2016 Madrid Open on Thursday, with Murray qualifying first, following an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over 16th seed Gilles Simon.

Djokovic followed suit, beating Roberto Bautista Agut and proving even more dominant than Murray had been. Djokovic will now face Milos Raonic in the last-eight after the Canadian beat Jo Wilfried-Tsonga in straight sets.

Later on, Nadal did his bit, registering an emphatic straight-sets win over Sam Querrey. Kei Nishikori also booked his place in the last eight after seeing off Richard Gasquet.

Murray and Simon barely gave an inch in the opening set and break points were few and far between, but the Scot claimed the key advantage when it mattered to win 6-4.

He then made an impressive start to the second set as he rushed into a 3-0 lead, and despite Simon's best efforts, the Scotsman eventually saw out the match in just shy of 100 minutes. 

Here is a look at the schedule and results from the action in Spain:

Men's Draw
Women's Draw
Round	Result	Score
Last 16	(2) Andy Murray bt. (16) Gilles Simon	6-4, 6-2
Last 16	(1) Novak Djokovic bt. (15) Roberto Bautista Agut	6-2, 6-1
Last 16	(5) Rafael Nadal bt. Sam Querrey	6-4, 6-2
Last 16	(8) Tomas Berdych bt. (9) David Ferrer	7-6(8), 7-5
Last 16	Nick Kyrgios bt. Pablo Cuevas	7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3
Last 16	Joao Sousa bt. Jack Sock	61, 6-7(3), 6-2
Last 16	(11) Milos Raonic bt. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6-4, 6-4
Last 16	Kei Nishikori bt. Richard Gasquet	6-4, 7-5
Round	Result	Score
Quarter-final	Louisa Chirico bt. Daria Gavrilova	7-6(1), 6-2
Quarter-final	(4) Simona Halep bt. Irina-Camelia Begu	6-3, 0-6, 6-1
Quarter-final	Sam Stosur bt. Patricia Maria Tig	6-3, 6-4
Quarter-final	Dominika Cibulkova bt. Sorana Cirstea	4-6, 6-3, 6-3

For the full draw schedule, visit the ATP World Tour's website.

Thursday Recap

Murray's serve was mightily impressive in his last-16 clash with Frenchman Simon, and he showed his form from the off with an efficient hold for 1-0 up.

The world No. 2's return game was not immediately at its best, and Simon himself produced a nerve-settling opening hold to get on the board. 

The pattern continued for much of the first set, with Murray showing some nice touches at the net and Simon great resilience, and the opening break-point opportunity did not come until the eighth game of the match.

Simon produced an excellent drop shot to return the game to deuce and served out for 4-4 as the set looked destined for a tiebreak.

However, Murray upped his game impressively at 30-15 down, 5-4 up, as he produced a magical backhand passing shot after a poor Simon approach to give himself a sniff of a break point, per TennisTV:

The two-time grand slam winner made it count, coming forward on Simon's second serve to earn set point before his opponent netted a forehand to hand him the opener.

With his tail up, Murray proceeded to win the first three games of the second set, and Simon looked to be running out of ideas as to how to stop the rot, per tennis writer Carole Bouchard:

He did finally hold to get a game on the board for 3-1 having lost five in a row, but he had already lost the edge in the key second set.

At 4-2, there was a long delay as a member of the crowd was taken ill, but upon resumption, Murray produced some excellent play to move within one game of victory.

Having missed his first match point at 5-2 after going long, he took his second opportunity after a delicate drop shot and marched into the last eight where he will face Tomas Berdych after the Czech Republic player saw off David Ferrer.

Djokovic gave Agut no room to breathe, winning a staggering 86 percent of points off his first serve. The world No. 1 also converted five of eight break points as his brilliance extended to the return game, per Tennis TV:

This was typically methodical and controlled stuff from Djokovic. The Serb's performance also offered an ominous reminder to the other contenders that he's over his recent early exit from the Monte Carlo Masters.

Nadal didn't start with the same assurance Djokovic showed, actually dropping his first game. But the Spaniard went on to win seven in a row to bridge both sets, giving him a 6-4 win in the first.

BBC Sport's Russell Fuller noted how Querrey was somewhat unfortunate to meet such an accomplished opponent, despite producing a quality performance of his own:

The key to Nadal's success was handling Querrey's serving power. Although the American boomed nine aces during the match, Nadal always managed to craft a break when it really mattered.

In all, he took five of eight break points to leave Querrey frustrated, according to Live Tennis:

"

Match statistics for #Nadal vs #Querrey: pic.twitter.com/fCcJXMCEqc

— Live Tennis (@livetennis) May 5, 2016"

Ultimately, things weren't really close as the score suggested. Nadal just had too much know-how for his game opponent.

Things were closer and certainly more thrilling between Nishikori and Gasquet. Nishikori struggled to put his opponent away in a match featuring many swings in momentum.

The most notable came when the Japanese player sliced a forehand on match point in the second set. It was a gaffe that allowed Frenchman Gasquet hope of pushing things to a deciding set.

But Nishikori soon composed himself and rallied to take the next two games and close out what proved to be a very hard-fought win.

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

Speaking of a tough fight, that's just what Nick Kyrgios faced against Pablo Cuevas. The former managed to take the first set only after a tiebreak but soon dropped the second.

Thankfully, Kyrgios can always lean on his serving power to bail him out of trouble. So it proved here as his 14 aces provided the foundation for a victory he sealed with a 6-3 triumph in the deciding set.

The day's play ended with Raonic booking himself a quarter-final meeting with Nadal after outlasting Tsonga. Raonic took both sets 6-4 and produced some remarkable shots, none more so than this one late on, per TennisTV:

Raonic will cause more trouble for Djokovic than Agut managed, while Murray will find himself similarly troubled by Berdych. Yet, it's safe to still expect last year's winner and the world No. 1 to reach the last four.