Djokovic, Nadal, Murray into Madrid Masters quarterfinals

There were no surprises in the third round of the Masters 1000 clay court tournament taking place in Madrid, as all the strong players advanced.

Novak Djokovic reached his 30th win of 2016. He defeated 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in just 68 minutes with a score of 6-2, 6-1. This was Djokovic's fourth consecutive win over his Spanish opponent.

“It was a perfect performance from 2-2 in the first set. Everything was working very well. I didn’t give him much time. I think I used the variation in my shots, creating an open game, with serves, slices, down the line and switching. I’m very happy with the performance,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic reached his 30th win this year. Photo: Madrid Masters.

The Serbian will next play Milos Raonic, who defeated seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4 in 72 minutes. Raonic lost only two points on his first serve and saved all two break points he faced. The win brought the Canadian's head-to-head record with Tsonga to 2-2.

The other quarterfinal in the same bracket as Djokovic and Raonic is between Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori. Kyrgios, a young Australian, beat fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round, but he lost to Nishikori in the Miami semi-finals last month.

Meanwhile, in the other bracket, defending champion Andy Murray had an easy win over Gilles Simon with a score of 6-4, 6-2. The Scot broke his opponent's final serve in the first set and scored two more break points in the second set to win. Simon was Murray's opponent in the final of the 2008 Madrid Masters when he won the tournament for the first time.

Rafael Nadal also advanced, but had some trouble against American opponent Sam Querrey. The reigning Monte Carlo and Barcelona Open champion only needed one more point to fall behind 1-5 in the first set.

“It was a difficult start. He was very strong and effective. I didn’t have control of the ball and it took me a while to get into the rhythm of the match,” Nadal said after his 6-4, 6-2 win.

The Spaniard's quarter-final opponent is Joao Sousa while Murray will meet eighth seed Tomas Berdych.

According to VNE