<p>Second seed Rafael Nadal shot into the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament here Thursday, eliminating Argentine qualifier Martin Alund.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Nadal met almost no resistance in the first set but had to save three break points in the second to gain a 6-0, 6-4 win. <br /><br />The Spaniard, who won the tournament in 2005, will now face Argentine World No.77 Leonardo Mayer, who knocked out Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-2.<br /><br />It is Nadal’s third tournament after a seven-month layoff with a knee injury. He reached the final of the Chile Open before grabbing his 51st career title in Sao Paolo.<br /><br />Top seed David Ferrer, meanwhile, also had little trouble clearing the second-round hurdle as he blazed past Wayne Odesnik of the US 6-2, 6-1.<br /><br />Ferrer, the champion for the last three years, will play Italy’s 57th-ranked Paolo Lorenzi in the quarterfinals.<br /><br />Nicolas Almagro, seeded third, scraped past compatriot Tommy Robredo 6-4, 7-6(4) to book a quarterfinal encounter with eighth seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.<br /><br />The last quarterfinal pair features two unseeded players: Italy’s World No.43 Fabio Fognini and Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, ranked 66th in the world.<br /><br />The Acapulco tournament is a clay-court event. It offers a $1.2 million prize fund for men while for the women it is a lowly WTA international event offering prize money of $235,000.</p>
<p>Second seed Rafael Nadal shot into the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament here Thursday, eliminating Argentine qualifier Martin Alund.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Nadal met almost no resistance in the first set but had to save three break points in the second to gain a 6-0, 6-4 win. <br /><br />The Spaniard, who won the tournament in 2005, will now face Argentine World No.77 Leonardo Mayer, who knocked out Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-2.<br /><br />It is Nadal’s third tournament after a seven-month layoff with a knee injury. He reached the final of the Chile Open before grabbing his 51st career title in Sao Paolo.<br /><br />Top seed David Ferrer, meanwhile, also had little trouble clearing the second-round hurdle as he blazed past Wayne Odesnik of the US 6-2, 6-1.<br /><br />Ferrer, the champion for the last three years, will play Italy’s 57th-ranked Paolo Lorenzi in the quarterfinals.<br /><br />Nicolas Almagro, seeded third, scraped past compatriot Tommy Robredo 6-4, 7-6(4) to book a quarterfinal encounter with eighth seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.<br /><br />The last quarterfinal pair features two unseeded players: Italy’s World No.43 Fabio Fognini and Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, ranked 66th in the world.<br /><br />The Acapulco tournament is a clay-court event. It offers a $1.2 million prize fund for men while for the women it is a lowly WTA international event offering prize money of $235,000.</p>