Nadal makes last eight

MADRID: Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters with a 7-5, 6-4 win over John Isner on Thursday.

There was disappointment, however, for Fernando Verdasco; the sixth seed was knocked out 7-5, 6-3 by Jurgen Melzer.

On the women's side, eighth seed Sam Stosur stopped Swiss Patty Schnyder 7-6(3), 6-2 while Li, the 13th seed, beat Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4 in the third round.

Late on Wednesday, Nadia Petrova knocked out World No.1 Serena Williams with 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

The results: Men: Third round: Jurgen Melzer bt Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3; Gael Monfils bt Guillermo Garcia Lopez 7-6(5), 6-4; Nicolas Almagro bt Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-1; Rafael Nadal bt John Isner 7-5, 6-4. Second round: Juan Monaco bt Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 6-2; Feliciano Lopez bt Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-2; Ernests Gulbis bt Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(2), 6-4; John Isner bt Santiago Giraldo 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-2; Stanislas Wawrinka bt Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-2 (retd.).

Nicolas Almagro bt Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-5; Andy Murray bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-3 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 (retd.); David Ferrer bt Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. Doubles: Second round: Leander Paes & Lukas Dlouhy bt Juan Ignacio Chela & Edouardo Schwank 6-4, 6-2.

Women: Third round: Samantha Stosur bt Patty Schnyder 7-6(3), 6-2; Na Li bt Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4; Shahar Peer bt Arantxa Parra Santonja 7-5, 6-2; Venus Williams bt Francesca Schiavone 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Nadia Petrova bt Serena Williams 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 . — Agencies