Rafael Nadal eased into the quarter-finals of the Mexican Open on Wednesday, continuing his comeback from the knee injury that sidelined the 11-time Grand Slam champion for seven months. Nadal, playing in his third tournament in four weeks after his lengthy layoff, needed one hour and 16 minutes to get past Argentine qualifier Martin Alund 6-0, 6-4.
Nadal pocketed the first set in less than half an hour, saving all three of the break points he faced in the contest and winning 26 of his 33 first service points. The convincing victory came a fortnight after Nadal needed three sets to get past Alund in the semi-finals of the clay court tournament in Sao Paulo, where Nadal went on to win his first title since last year's French Open. "The first set I played at a very high level," Nadal said. "I started strong without any errors. In the second set Martin played at a high level and made it hard to close it out. "I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals."