RIO DE JANERIO — Rafael Nadal beat Joao Souza of Brazil 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Brazil Open, his second tournament since returning from a left knee injury.
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Nadal broke Souza’s service late in each set to win in 1 hour, 18 minutes at the indoor clay-court tournament in South America’s biggest city.
The victory over the 140th-ranked Brazilian came a day after Nadal withdrew from the doubles tournament to look after the sore knee which had kept him sidelined for seven months.
The 11-time Grand Slam winner, who had a bye in the first round and won the tournament in 2005, will face Carlos Berlocq after the Argentine won 7-6 (7), 6-4 against eighth-seeded Albert Ramos of Spain.
Nadal lost the singles and doubles final last week at the VTR Open in Vina del Mar in Chile.
Earlier in the day, defending champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain reached the quarter-finals by beating Chilean qualifier Paul Capdeville 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
The 11th-ranked Almagro won the last four games to stay on track for his third straight title in Sao Paulo — and fourth overall. The second-seeded Spaniard will face David Nalbandian, who beat Guido Pella 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Argentine match.
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The Brazil Open is Almagro’s first tournament since his five-set loss to compatriot David Ferrer in the Australian Open quarter-finals in January.
Third-seeded Juan Monaco lost an opening-round match for the third time this season, falling to Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-5, 6-2. The 15th-ranked Argentine had his service broken four times in the second-round loss at the Ibirapuera arena.
