Two-time defending and four-time overall champion Rafael Nadal was an easy third-round winner Thursday at the clay-court Madrid Open, a Masters 1000 event.
The third-seeded former world No. 1 great blew past Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2 at the Magic Box.
The nine-time French Open king Nadal captured a second straight Madrid title last year by beating Japan's Kei Nishikori in the final.
Up next for the record 27-time Masters champ will be 10th-seeded Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov, who upended eighth-seeded Swiss slugger Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3 on Day 5.
Also on Thursday, sixth-seeded 2012 Madrid runner-up Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic tackled 12th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-2 and 16th-seeded American John Isner held off Aussie young gun Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4. Kyrgios stunned top-seeded Roger Federer in a three-tiebreak affair here on Wednesday.
[SportsNetwork.com]
