Clay king Nadal fires warning to rivals with easy win
Novac Djokovic is the main contender to end the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal duopoly
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Sunday, 01, Jun 2008 09:00
Defending champion Rafael Nadal is through to the French Open quarter-finals after thumping Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-0 6-2.
The three-time champion at Roland Garros sealed victory in one hour and 54 minutes, to set-up a clash with clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro.
Nadal's semi-final opponent could be Novac Djokovic, who booked his place in the quarter-finals after a 6-4 6-3- 6-4 win over Paul Henri-Mathieu.
The Australian Open champion will face rising star Ernests Gulbis in the last eight after coming through a tough test against home favourite Henri-Mathieu.
Djokovic broke the Frenchman in game five with his third break point on his way to taking the opening set.
There were three successive breaks of service in the second set, which gave Djokovic a 4-3 lead. He then won the next two games to win the set and put himself on the verge of the quarter-finals.
The third set went with serve, with Mathieu failing to make any inroads on his opponent's serve.
Djokovic said: "I've been serving really well in all four matches and it's really encouraging for the future as it something I want to have as a weapon."
Meanwhile, Gulbis is through to the quarter-finals after beating Michael Llodra 6-4 7-6 (7/4) 6-3.
Gulbis, the first Latvian to play in a grand slam, has already seen off Germany's Simon Greul, American seventh seed James Blake and Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in this year's tournament.