World number one Rafael Nadal thrashed unseeded Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday to advance to the Barcelona Open quarter-finals and stay on course for a fifth straight title.
The Spanish top seed broke the Rochus serve twice in the first set and three times in the second on the clay in the Catalan capital and will play David Nalbandian, seeded seven, for a place in the semi-finals.
Argentine Nalbandian became the first player to reach the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro. He was joined by Radek Stepanek when the Czech beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to set up a clash with Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko or Spain's Feliciano Lopez.
Last year's losing finalist David Ferrer and 2004 winner Tommy Robredo will meet for a place in the semis after the Spanish pair both came back from a set down to beat Italy's Potito Starace and Russian Igor Andreev respectively.
Second-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco takes on Czech Tomas Berdych and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez plays Argentine Juan Monaco later on Thursday.
Nadal, who became the first man to win the Monte Carlo Masters five times in a row when he beat Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final, begins his attempt for a fifth consecutive French Open crown next month.
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