Rafael Nadal continued his comeback from injury with an impressive straight-sets win over Peter Gojowczyk at the China Open.
Nadal, playing just his second match after recovering from a wrist injury, appeared to be close to his best as he moved into the last eight in Beijing with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 success over the German, who is ranked 122 in the world.
The world number two, who was runner-up in the tournament last year when beaten in the final by Novak Djokovic, had far too much for Gojowczyk as he saw off his opponent in one hour and 44 minutes.
The Mallorca-born star fired six aces en route to the win and showed few signs of rustiness despite his recent absence.
Nadal has only triumphed in the China Open once – back in 2005 – but will now face Martin Klizan in the quarter-finals after his last-16 opponent, Ernests Gulbis, retired midway through the second set due to a shoulder injury when 6-2 3-0 down.
Nadal has had an injury-hit couple of years and missed the US Open in a two-month spell out with his recent wrist injury.
However, he made a winning return against Richard Gasquet in Beijing on Tuesday and will hope to build his form and overall fitness over the next week.
Meanwhile, French Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov is also through to the quarter-finals after a comfortable 6-4 6-4 success over Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-4.
He will now take on reigning champion and favourite Djokovic for a semi-final place.
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