Tennis-Nadal crushes qualifier Korda to reach last eight

He did not win either, however, and once Nadal had sprinted into a 5-0 lead the American already looked forlorn. Korda, son of 1992 runner-up Petr, was unable to cope with the strong breeze or Nadal's heavy spin as the first two sets went by in little more than an hour.

Rafa Nadal blew away American qualifer Sebastian Korda 6-1 6-1 6-2 to romp into the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday and close in on a record-extending 13th title at Roland Garros. With the sun out and the wind up on Court Philippe Chatrier it always looked like mission impossible for the 213th-ranked Korda and so it proved in a one-sided fourth round match.

Korda, 20, actually had two break points in Nadal's opening service game that spanned nine minutes and also had game point in the next game in a competitive opening. He did not win either, however, and once Nadal had sprinted into a 5-0 lead the American already looked forlorn.

Korda, son of 1992 runner-up Petr, was unable to cope with the strong breeze or Nadal's heavy spin as the first two sets went by in little more than an hour. Even the 34-year-old Nadal can lose focus occasionally though and he dropped serve at the start of the second set to trail 2-0 before rattling through the next six games.

Nadal has dropped only 23 games so far and is yet to face a seed. He will next face either U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev or rising Italian Jannick Sinner in his 42nd Grand Slam the quarter-final, third on the all-time list.