Nadal impressive in Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, April 15 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal lost a mere 18 points Thursday in a rout that took him into the quarterfinals of the $3 million Monte Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco.

Nadal the tournament's defending champion and No. 2 seed, served notice that his clay-court game is on form with a 6-0, 6-1 romp over Michael Berrer. The easy win came one day after Nadal eliminated Thiemo de Bakker 6-1, 6-0.

In the third-round match, Nadal lost nine points on serve and allowed Berrer just nine points when Berrer served. Nadal didn't face a break point in advancing to the quarterfinals against ninth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, who defeated No. 5-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 Thursday.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last year's Monte Carlo final, beat Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4, winning just seven more points -- 67-60 -- over the course of the match. Djokovic drew David Nalbandian, who upset 12th-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, in the quarters.

Fourth-seeded Marin Cilic was ousted 6-4, 6-4 by Albert Montanes, who faces sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco in Friday's quarterfinals. Verdasco beat Tomas Berdych 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in his third-round match.

Friday's fourth quarterfinal sends 11th-seeded David Ferrer against Philipp Kohlschreiber. Ferrer advanced 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) at the expense of No. 8-seeded Ivan Ljubicic and Kohlschreiber stopped Phillip Petzchner 6-3, 6-4.