Rafael Nadal vs. Giles Simon: Score and Reaction from 2016 Olympics

Rafael Nadal of Spain advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 Summer Olympics with a hard-fought 7-6, 6-3 victory over France's Gilles Simon on Thursday.

The singles triumph marked the start of a busy day for the 30-year-old veteran. He's also scheduled to play the men's doubles semifinals with Marc Lopez and the mixed doubles first round with Garbine Muguruza later in the day. So getting off the court quickly was imperative.

Nadal admitted earlier in the week that he's still not fully recovered from the injury that forced him to miss the Wimbledon Championships. Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press noted the Spanish superstar is only playing due to the importance of the Olympics after missing the London Games.

"My wrist is not perfect. My wrist needs more time," Nadal said Sunday. "If it was a 'normal' tournament on the circuit, I wouldn't be here. My wrist is not perfect. It isn't 100 percent."

The first set was the definition of a grind. There were four breaks of serve, a handful of long games and numerous extended rallies between two players capable of playing high-end defense. The four breaks came in a five-game stretch in the middle of the set when they were battling for the advantage.

Of course, given the players' style and the gritty court surface, that didn't come as much of a surprise, as Rene Denfeld of the Tennis Island noted:

When the dust settled, the opening set ended up in a tiebreak. Nadal came up with some clutch shots to race out to a 5-2 lead and held on for a 7-5 win to take control of the match.

Steve Tignor of Tennis Magazine noted it wasn't the cleanest breaker, though:

The second set was a little more routine for Nadal, at least from a scoreline perspective. Simon continued to fight hard and forced the Spaniard to elevate his game, and the 2008 gold medalist responded by playing his best tennis of the event so far.

Nadal cruised out to a 4-0 lead with a pair of breaks. The Frenchman got himself back into the set by winning three of the next four games, but it wasn't enough. The No. 3 seed closed out the match with his fifth break to punch his ticket to the next round.

The biggest difference in the second set was cutting down on his unforced errors. The numbers are always a little higher in defensive-minded matches with long rallies, but he registered just 12 in the second after an unsightly 28 in the first.

Wyre Davies of BBC News commented on Nadal after the win:

Looking ahead, Nadal is in a difficult spot after Wednesday's rain out further compressed an already tight schedule. He wants to make a serious bid to win three medals, which is possible based on his progression in singles and men's doubles along with his high-ranked mixed doubles partner. But he's stretching himself thin in terms of trying to rest after being sidelined for awhile due to injury.

His chances of winning singles gold would improve with an early exit in the mixed event, but the fierce competitor in him likely won't let that happen. He'll just take each match as it comes and hope his body responds. Next up in singles will be either David Goffin or Thomaz Bellucci in the quarters.

All match statistics courtesy of the Olympics' official site.