Rafael Nadal, the seven-time champion seeded second, dropped his opening service game against the unpredictable Paire, ranked a career-best 33rd with the Spaniard finding himself trailing 2-0 on the clay of the Real Club de Tenis. <img alt="" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/apr/Rafael-Nadal_2.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 711px;" /> Rafael Nadal returns to Benoit Paire at the Barcelona Open yesterday. Pic/AFP. But as the morning match wore on, Nadal found his familiar clay court groove, lifting the first set in a tie-breaker and dominating in the second to take his third-round win. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a brilliant match but winning was the most important thing,&rdquo; said Nadal. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long day today, so straight sets is not a bad way to start.u00a0&ldquo;My next opponent will be playing at a high level and I need to improve over how I played in the morning.&rdquo; The World No 5 will now play unseeded Albert Ramos after his compatriot put out Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).u00a0Nadal, sidelined for seven months until February with a knee injury, appeared to be well on the road to recovery after his loss in the Monte Carlo final last week to Novak Djokovic. The 26-year-old Nadal improved to a 37-1 career record in Barcelona with his only loss against current Davis Cup coach Alex Corretja in the 2003 second round. He now stands 23-2 this season and 18-2 on clay.u00a0Meanwhile, 2004 winner Tommy Robredo of Spain knocked out third seed Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Rafael Nadal led the way with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 defeat of Frenchman Benoit Paire on Friday, as the Barcelona Open completed rain-delayed matches from the previous 24 hours and prepared to start the quarter-finals.

Nadal eases into Barcelona quarters

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Nadal eases into Barcelona quarters

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