Nadal crushes Fognini to reach Shanghai quarters

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World number one and top seeded Spanish Rafael Nadal crushed Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round of Shanghai Masters on Thursday, reaching the quarterfinals in his chase of a seventh title this year. In good form, he had pocketed two Grand Slam titles and four other titles. The "King of Clay" continues to chase his maiden Shanghai Masters title.

The Spaniard nailed a 6-3 win in just 31 minutes for the first set. In the second, Fognini was unable to match Nadal's powerful ground strokes and struggled through the set, as the 16-time grand slam winner took the match in straight ones, 6-3, 6-1 in just 62 minutes to claim his 14th successive win.

The 31-year-old meets sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov, who is still striving to reach the 2017 ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after winning the Men's singles match against Fabio Fognini of Italy on day 5 of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 12, 2017 in Shanghai, China./Reuters photo‍

Former champion Roger Federer took on qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov for a spot in the quarters. The Swiss is unbeaten in four previous matches with his opponent, and will continue to do so as he is into the quarters after a 6-4, 6-2 win and meets Frenchman Richard Gasquet next.

In other matches, Gasquet beat compatriot Gilles Simon in three sets to set up the meeting with the Swiss. Marin Cilic edged Steve Johnson. Coming from behind was 16th-seed Juan Martin del Potro to beat world number four Alexander Zverev. Viktor Troicki, Grigor Dimitrov and Albert Ramos-Vinolas were also winners.

1068km