Rafael Nadal again showcased his credentials for the Wimbledon title by breezing past Joao Sousa and into the quarter-finals.
The Spaniard has not won the trophy at SW19 since 2010 but is looking every inch the contender this time around, dispatching the Portuguese 6-2 6-2 6-2 on Centre Court.
There were doubts before the tournament that Nadal would even get this far after what looked like a horror draw on paper.
Is 2019 the year @RafaelNadal wins his third #Wimbledon title? The Spaniard cruises through to his seventh quarter-final at The Championships with an impressive victory over Joao Sousa pic.twitter.com/Mn16MmomzB — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2019
It did not turn out like that as results elsewhere prevented meetings with the likes of Denis Shapovalov and Marin Cilic, but on this evidence Nadal would have got past them just as easily.
The 33-year-old is moving extremely well for a man whose knees have not always been grateful for the transition from clay to grass in the past and a tantalising semi-final with Roger Federer is edging ever closer.
An easy afternoon for the 18-time grand-slam winner began by surging into a 4-0 lead in the opening set.
Such was his dominance against Sousa, who beat Britain's Dan Evans in five sets on Saturday night, that a double fault at 4-1 up was met with a gasp of horror by the Centre Court crowd.
HOWZAAAT!? 🏏#Wimbledon | @ICC | @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/jDTnMm52ae — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2019
He wrapped up the opener in 29 minutes and after a break in the first game of the second set, the writing was on the wall.
There was simply no way back for Sousa, who failed to force any break points during the match, and the second set was sealed when Nadal took his opponent's serve again.
It was only a matter of time until he was back in the locker room and two more breaks put him on the brink, eventually seeing out victory with an ace.
Nadal, into just his second quarter-final here since 2011, will play Sam Querrey or Tennys Sandgren in the last eight.
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