Rafael Nadal showed no mercy towards an emotional David Ferrer as he eased into the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, describing his compatriot who is winding down his career as a "pleasure to watch". Ferrer is set to retire after the Madrid Open next month and made a tearful exit on what was his 15th and final appearance at this tournament. But there was no room for sentiment for Nadal, who won 6-3, 6-3 to take one step closer to a record 12th Barcelona title. Four of those triumphs came after beating Ferrer in the final and, at the end of this latest victory, Nadal's 37-year-old opponent saluted the crowd before placing his pink headband down on the service line. "David is not retiring because of his level but it has been a complicated year and a half for him with injuries," Nadal said. "His level this year has still been very high and for all these years he's been fighting hard and giving us pleasure watching him. We are all grateful to him." Ferrer reached a career-high ranking of number three in the world in 2013, the same year he went closest to winning a Grand Slam too, undone by Nadal again in the French Open final. "I gave everything I had," added Ferrer. "I'm very happy, it's a dream come true to play one of my last matches on this court." Nadal will be gunning for his 12th success at Roland Garros next month and this was more like the sort of form expected of the world number two, who had won 30 consecutive sets in Barcelona before falling one behind to Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday. "I had to majorly improve," Nadal added. "I need to step up, play with more energy and a different attitude." Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff or the talented 20-year-old Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, now await in the last eight before a potential semi-final meeting with Dominic Thiem, whom Nadal beat in the French Open final last year. Nadal broke Ferrer for 4-2 in the opening set and was serving for it at 5-3 when rain delayed the match for almost an hour. But the stoppage could not change the momentum, with Nadal quickly wrapping up the frame upon his return before breaking again early in the second. Ferrer offered some brief resistance, a backhand winner restoring parity at 2-2 but Nadal raced ahead as a forehand pass and half-volley put him 5-3 in front. He missed three match points but converted the fourth before finally embracing an emotional Ferrer at the net, around them a standing ovation. Kei Nishikori swept into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday. The seventh-ranked Japanese star, eliminated in the second round in Monte Carlo last week, broke the Canadian teenager, ranked 31st, in the opening game of the match. Nishikori then broke again in the fifth and seventh games to take the set. After Nishikori broke in the fourth game of the second set, Auger-Aliassime began to fight back. The 18-year-old had five break points in the next game, before the fourth seed held. The Canadian finally broke, to love, in the seventh game but Nishikori broke straight back and served out to win the match. In the other early match, seventh seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev beat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-2. Ninth seed Denis Shapovalov was knocked out by Chilean Christian Garin 7-5, 6-2, while Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov made it through after seeing off Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-7(4-7), 6-3. Ferrer beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-1 while Argentine Guido Pella beat six-seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets. Lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena beat compatriot Nicola Kuhn in three sets after Fognini withdrew from the tournament following injury concerns after practising earlier in the day. Andy Murray 'optimistic' he can play this year: Mother Andy Murray is "cautiously optimistic" he will be able to play tennis again this season after successfully undergoing hip surgery, his mother Judy has said. The three-times Grand Slam champion said at this year's Australian Open that constant pain in his hip had brought him to the verge of quitting tennis but revealed last month that he was pain free after the procedure in January. Murray posted an Instagram video of himself on an outdoor court earlier this month, describing the footage of him hitting a tennis ball for the first time since the surgery as "a start". He followed that up with a video of himself playing a round of golf that reinforced the message that he was on the mend. "It's still early days so we will have to wait and see what happens. He is cautiously optimistic about getting back on the match court perhaps at some point over the summer," Judy was quoted as saying by British media. "He was told not to do impact work, which basically means running around the garden hitting a ball, for three months but he's been hitting against a wall from a static position." Murray hoped to make his comeback at Wimbledon and said in March that he would consider playing doubles because it would put less stress on his hip. The 31-year-old twice Wimbledon champion has compared his situation to that of American doubles player Bob Bryan, who returned to competitive tennis 5-1/2 months after undergoing a similar procedure. — Agencies
