Rafael Nadal's Italian Open campaign remains on track after he sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory over John Isner to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.
The Spaniard, who is known as the 'king of clay', suffered a blow when he lost to Andy Murray in the final of the Madrid Open last week.
However, he has tried to recover in Rome and in his game against Isner in particular, the Spaniard managed to overcome early danger by saving three break points.
Later in the set, Nadal went a break up and that was enough for the 14-time Grand Slam champion to take the lead on the clay surface.
Proceedings went by way of serve in the second set, but once again, Nadal made the breakthrough by snatching Isner's serve in the ninth game before successfully serving for the set and the match.
Danielle Joynson
