Nadal rolls into Chennai quarterfinals

CHENNAI, India, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Rafael Nadal dropped just three games Thursday in collecting an easy second-round win at the Chennai Open tennis tournament in India.

Nadal swept past Rajeev Ram 6-2, 6-1 in 69 minutes and pushed into the quarterfinals of the hard-court tuneup for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam event.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez earned a Friday match with Nadal by stopping seventh-seeded Werner Eschauer in a tough 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) match.

Marin Cilic upset fifth-seeded Nicolas Mahut, 6-2, 6-4, and Robin Haase knocked out Lovro Zovko, 6-1, 7-5, in other second-round matches Thursday.

In addition to the match pitting Nadal against Garcia-Lopez, No. 3-seeded Carlos Moya is to play Florent Serra, fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny faces Chennai defending champion Xavier Malisse and Cilic goes against Haase in the quarterfinals Friday.