Britain’s Dan Evans was the latest victim of Rafa Nadal as the Spaniard’s stretched his win streak to 17 straight, and his 400th Masters 1000 win.
Evans broke early and led 3-1 and 4-2 in the first set but Nadal broke the Briton’s serve twice to take the opening set 7-5.
Nadal who has not lost in 2022 broke early in set two and sealed a 7-5 6-3 win.
World number four Nadal, who staged an epic fightback to beat American Sebastian Korda in the previous round, is the one to beat at the moment – as Evans acknowledged.
“It’s tough to explain the feeling you get against him,” said Evans. “He played very well, I thought, he was very aggressive and he didn’t really give me much chance to come forward.
“I was happy with the way I played. It’s a terrible match-up for me – it would be nice to have a double handed backhand in this situation.”
Nadal will play American Reilly Opelka in the next round.
Main photo:- Rafa Nadal winning his 400th ATP Masters match – ©ATPTour.com/Pete Staples
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