Nadal Passes Gasquet Test, Now For Ljubicic

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal has won his past 34 matches at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal continued his smooth progress towards a seventh consecutive Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters crown as dismissed Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4 Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament.

In a rematch of the 2005 semi-finals, Nadal recorded his eighth victory in eight meetings with Gasquet as he nullified the Frenchman’s attacking tactics with telling service returns. He raced through the opening set with two breaks of serve and quickly established the lead in the second set.

Gasquet fought back to level at 4-4 after breaking the Nadal serve for the first time in the match with a winning forehand passing shot on the run. However, his comeback was short lived as Nadal immediately recouped his advantage and served out the victory in one hour and 33 minutes.

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“It was a good match," said Gasquet. "But I have regrets about that game at 4-4 [in the second set]. I believe I played at the level of a Top 10 player, but he is one step above.”

Nadal won his 34th consecutive match at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and improved to a 36-1 event record. He has lost only five sets during that streak. The Spaniard is looking to break his own record this week by winning a 19th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown.

“I'm very happy how I played today,” said Nadal. “I think I played much better than yesterday, easier. In general, I think [it] was a very positive victory against a very difficult opponent.”

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Nadal next will face Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who cruised past fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2 in just 81 minutes, having broken the 2010 Roland Garros semi-finalist’s serve on three occasions.

“He's a very experienced player,” warned Nadal. “He played well against Berdych. [I] saw him play in the locker room. It's going to be a really difficult match tomorrow. I have to play like today if I want to have chances, and that's what I'm going to try.”

Former World No. 3 Ljubicic, currently No. 40 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, has returned to winning ways this week in Monte-Carlo after coming in on the back of four successive defeats. The Croatian is through to the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo for the third time and will face Nadal at this stage for the second time; in 2008 the Mallorcan won in straight sets.