Madrid Open 2018: Rafael Nadal Cruises into Quarter-Finals

Rafael Nadal eased past Diego Schwartzman in the 2018 Madrid Open on Thursday, winning 6-3, 6-4 in the Spanish capital.

Scalps were taken as Kyle Edmund and Dusan Lajovic knocked out David Goffin and Juan Martin del Potro, respectively, while in the women's draw, top seed Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova were among those to exit the competition.

Here's a look at Thursday's results:

Select men's results

(1) Rafael Nadal bt. (13) Diego Schwartzman, 6-3, 6-4

Dusan Lajovic bt. (4) Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6)

Kyle Edmund bt. (8) David Goffin, 6-3, 6-3

(2) Alexander Zverev bt. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4, 6-2

Women's results

(6) Karolina Pliskova bt. (1) Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-3

(7) Caroline Garcia bt. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-2, 6-3

Kiki Bertens bt. Maria Sharapova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

(10) Petra Kvitova vs. (14) Daria Kasatkina

Schwartzman was left to rue an early failure to convert a break point against Nadal, as he missed a pair of returns and netted a forehand to allow the Spaniard to hold for a 2-1 lead.

Some careless play from the Argentinian gave Nadal the initiative in the set, per Record's Jose Morgado:

From there it was straightforward for Nadal to see out the set. In the second he came up against sterner opposition from Schwartzman, per Tennis TV:

The No. 13 seed broke back after Nadal took the lead in the set, but a double-fault proved costly as the world No. 1 secured the win as well as his 50th straight set on clay.

After he stunned Novak Djokovic on Wednesday, Edmund continued his impressive run against Goffin.

As tennis writer Tumaini Carayol noted, the Brit is improving against the game's top players:

He'll face Denis Shapovalov in Friday's quarter-final, after the Canadian beat compatriot Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Halep was broken four times by Pliskova as she missed out on a place in the semi-final.

The latter has been in superb form on clay, though, per WTA Insider:

She'll look to extend that run to 10 wins when she faces either Daria Kasatkina or Petra Kvitova on Friday.