Rafael Nadal battled past Australian Jordan Thompson in straight sets to reach the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Thursday, as Diego Schwartzman moved within one win of securing an ATP Tour Finals debut.
Top seed Nadal got the better of Thompson 6-1, 7-6(3) to set up a last-eight clash with fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who must win the title this week to have a chance of snatching the last Tour Finals spot from Schwartzman.
World No. 61 Thompson missed a set-point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion. Nadal is bidding for a first Paris indoors triumph which would draw him level with Novak Djokovic on a record 36 Masters titles.
Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka made the quarterfinals with a comeback 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev of Russia.
The results (third round): Rafael Nadal bt Jordan Thompson 6-1, 7-6(3); Pablo Carreno Busta bt Norbert Gombos 7-5, 6-2; Alexander Zverev bt Adrian Mannarino 7-6(11), 6-7(7), 6-4; Stan Wawrinka bt Andrey Rublev 1-6, 6-4, 6-3; Diego Schwartzman bt Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1; Daniil Medvedev bt Alex de Minaur 5-7, 6-2, 6-2; Milos Raonic bt Marcos Giron 7-6(1), 6-2; Ugo Humbert bt Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3.
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