SHANGHAI – Rafael Nadal won his 14th consecutive match to get in the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals, beating Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday night.
Fognini occupied Nadal for 63 minutes, nine minutes longer Nadal’s second-round match.
Roger Federer, seeded second to Nadal, also was not apprehended for long as he beaten Ukrainian qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-2.
“Of course it’s good news, and especially in this part of the season,” Nadal said. “It’s better like this than having long matches. You save a little bit more the body.
“It doesn’t matter how long you are on court, (the) most important thing is be enough competitive to (handle) all the situations.”
Nadal hadn’t succeed in an ATP hard-court title in more than three years until the U.S. Open last month, and now he’s gunning for his third in five weeks.
Nadal set aside both break points he faced in the third-round match, in the fourth game of the second set.
In the quarterfinals, Nadal will face sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who got past Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Federer will play against Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals.
Juan Martin del Potro advanced by overcoming third-seeded Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.