Nadal eases into Barcelona quarters, Dimitrov edges Jaziri

TIL Desk Sports/ World number five Grigor Dimitrov survived an almighty scare against outsider Malek Jaziri on Thursday to edge into the Barcelona Open quarter-finals beating the Tunisian 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(8) following a nail-biting tiebreak.

Top seed Rafael Nadal, who has won the tournament 10 times, also reached the last eight after dispatching compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and claiming a record-extending 40th consecutive set on clay.

Fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in an another thrilling three-setter that had fans on the Rafael Nadal court watching the world number one turning their heads towards the action unfolding on the adjacent Court One.

Carreno Busta is ranked 11th in the world to Mannarino’s 27th but after blitzing the first set he succumbed in the second and survived a match point to take a delicately-poised tiebreak.

Jaziri, ranked 88th in the world, hit back against Dimitrov after surrendering the first set to comfortably take the second and he looked poised to cause the latest high-profile exit in Barcelona when he went 4-2 up against the second seed in the third.