PARIS: Holder Rafael Nadal of Spain bulldozed into the French Open quarter-finals with an awe-inspiring 6-2 6-0 6-0 demolition of Argentine 13th seed Juan Monaco on Monday.
Second seed Nadal, gunning to become the first man to win seven Roland Garros titles, trailed Monaco 2-1 in the first set before winning the remaining 17 games to stay undefeated on Court Suzanne Lenglen since his French Open debut in 2005.
Monaco came out with all guns blazing but quickly hit the Rafa wall, with the Spaniard ending his opponent’s ordeal after one hour and 46 minutes on his first match point.
Nadal, who has dropped only 19 games in four matches, next faces compatriot Nicolas Almagro, the 12th seed, for a place in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova struggled into the French Open quarterfinals, defeating Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 in an error-scarred clash which featured 21 breaks of serve.
The Russian second seed, seeking a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, goes on to face either Estonian 23rd seed Kaia Kanepi or Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands for a place in the semifinals.
But she will be hoping for an improvement in conditions in Wednesday’s quarter-final after a stiff wind and bitter cold, which saw temperatures dip to a chilly 14 degrees, played havoc with her game, temper and movement.
The statistics of Monday’s match on Philippe Chatrier court told a grim tale.
Sharapova finished with 53 unforced errors to her opponent’s 48 and served up 12 double faults against seven.
With serve constantly under siege, Sharapova carved out 31 break points in total, converting 12.
Sharapova, the favourite for the title following the exits of top seed Victoria Azarenka, defending champion Li Na and Serena Williams, rarely settled in the three hour 11 minute encounter.
Twice she argued with umpire Julie Kjendlie while also taking an embarrassing, bottom-first tumble on to the damp red clay midway during the ninth game of the second set.
The world number two had been 4-1 and 5-2 ahead before wrapping up the opening set which saw few quality rallies in a gruelling battle of attrition and seven breaks in 10 games
The second set followed a similar pattern with 10 breaks of serve before Zakopalova, who handed Sharapova a first round defeat on her Grand Slam debut at the 2003 Australian Open, clinched the tiebreaker on a third set point.
Sharapova raced to a 5-1 lead in the decider, but squandered a match point on her 12th double fault.
In the next game, however, Zakopalova suffered a similar lapse as her seventh double fault on a second match point gave Sharapova victory.
Earlier, Li Na’s French Open title defense ended with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 fourth-round loss to 142nd-ranked qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan on a blustery day at Roland Garros.
Shvedova, a doubles specialist who teamed with Vania King to win Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010, made the French Open singles draw as a qualifier and became only the ninth qualifier to make it to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. This matches the furthest she’s ever gone in a Grand Slam singles draw.
The seventh-seeded Li’s loss leaves no former French Open champions left in the women’s draw.
Last year at Roland Garros, she became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Meanwhile, Local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept his eye on the prize to reach the French Open quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 win against Swiss 18th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.
The fifth-seeded Frenchman was 4-2 up in the decider when the match was interrupted by dusk on Sunday and dropped serve when play resumed on Court Philippe Chatrier. (Agencies)