PARIS — Rafael Nadal eased into his record-equaling 11th quarterfinal at the French Open by swatting aside Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
The nine-time champion matched Roger Federer’s Open era record for appearances in the last eight at Roland Garros. The fourth-seeded Spaniard next meets either No. 5 Milos Raonic of Canada or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. They were still playing their fourth-round match when Nadal finished his in less than 2 hours.
Nadal secured victory on his third match point when he pushed Bautista Agut to the back of the court with a big forehand that his countryman could only pat back into the net at full stretch.
The 31-year-old Nadal is chasing his 15th Grand Slam title and first since 2014 – when he won at Roland Garros.
After losing the Australian Open final to Federer in a five-set thriller – and then twice more to Federer on hard courts – Nadal has been in fine form on clay, winning titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.
The only player to have beaten Nadal on clay this season is Austrian Dominic Thiem – who was playing Argentine Horacio Zeballos later Sunday in a fourth-round match.
Meanwhile, No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki returned to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010, eliminating 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
In remaining men’s third-round action, there were wins for No. 8 Kei Nishikori of Japan; No. 15 Gael Monfils of France and unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
Nishikori recovered to beat Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 0-6, 6-4; Monfils was leading 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-3 against Richard Gasquet when his countryman retired after getting treatment on his right thigh.
Two weeks past his 21st birthday, Khachanov became the youngest man to reach the fourth round here since 2009, beating 21st-seeded John Isner – the last American man in the tournament – 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).
In remaining women’s third-round matches, second-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic brushed aside Germany’s Carina Witthoeft 7-5, 6-1; No. 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine won 6-4, 7-5 against Magda Linette, and Croatian qualifier Petra Martic upset 17th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 6-1.
