This Monday, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal beat the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci with a score of 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, and added his 200th victory on clay. This qualified him to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, where he will again face his Spaniard compatriot Nicolas Almagro who beat seventh seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 earlier that day.

Nadal annihilated its fourth opponent this year in Paris, where he has yet to lose a set. This accomplishment has been optained by the likes of the Swiss Roger Federer and the Czech Tomas Berdych.

During this game, the Brazilian lacked the intensity and confidence to take a victory against the Spaniard. Bellucci won three more games than Nadal but these were insufficient to stop the King of Clay, who despite giving up his serve four times, was still far away from the promising player of Tiete.

In the first set, Nadal served from the start and managed to take advantage with a breaking serve, but the advantage was short-lived because Bellucci tied in the fourth game. That was the wake-up call that Nadal needed to raise his game and not give any more chances to the Brazilian. He went on to win the next four games to close the first set with a comfortable 6-2.

In the second set, Bellocci played better and complicated the game for the Spaniard. However, Nadal achieved the first lead in the fifth game (3-2). Bellucci responded immediately to put the score 3-3. However, a double fault allowed Nadal to get ahead again in the score (5-4), but he was unable to close out the game with his service (5-5) and needed a new break serve to end the resistance of the South American player. At the end, Nadal won the second set 7-5.

The lack of rhythm was a constant in Nadal's game as he repeated the script of the second set in the third set. He started with a breaking serve, but the Brazilian tirelessly recovered. However, the Spaniard gradually raised his game and was able to take the lead on the fifth game (3-2). After breaking Bellucci’s serve once again, the Spaniard won the set and the match with a 6-4 score.

Throughout the game there were 20 break points and 12 service breaks, four of them against Nadal. These are as many as the Spanish player had granted since the start of the tournament. Moreover, the Spaniard committed 27 unforced errors, while Bellucci suffered 40.

At the end of the match, Nadal stated that as in Roland Garros 2008, Bellucci was a difficult rival for him in this fourth round. Despite not playing at his very best, the world No.2 was happy for the victory and for moving in the quarterfinals against Almagro.

“That was probably my hardest match of the 2010 tournament. I was closer to losing a set then than I was today. It was difficult. Bellucci is a very good player on clay, but I won in three sets. It was my best match of the tournament," expressed Rafa Nadal.

With this victory, the world No.2 will face Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. This is the 40th occasion that Nadal gets to the quarterfinals of a tournament.

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Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily ATP Tennis Games; sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.