Nadal reaches QFs; weary Murray pulls out in Rome
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Rome, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal secured a berth in the quarterfinals, while third-seeded Andy Murray withdrew from the Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
The fourth-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal handled 16th-seeded American John Isner 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday at Foro Italico.
The nine-time French Open champion was last year's Rome runner-up to three- time Rome champ Novak Djokovic. The two great stars have combined to win the last 10 titles at this Masters 1000 tournament.
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Nadal will face Swiss slugger Stan Wawrinka in Friday's quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Murray said he was fatigued after winning each of the last two clay-court events in Munich and Madrid.
"It's been a very long three weeks for me, the longest I've ever had on clay," said Murray, who had never even reached a clay-court final before his triumph in Munich.
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Murray followed that with a surprising win in Madrid, beating Nadal in the final.
"The point is I did not expect to do what I have done in the past few weeks," Murray added. "My body has never done that before on clay. My body's always found the surface difficult. I also don't want to risk making it worse. In the past maybe I've done too much."
The French Open is just over a week away, as the year's second Grand Slam starts May 24 in Paris. Murray's best results at Roland Garros were semifinal appearances in 2011 and last year.
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"I wanted to play in this tournament, it's a big event with a lot of points on offer," Murray continued. "The time of year is tough for everyone, it's just one of those things."
David Goffin of Belgium earned a spot in the quarterfinals with the walkover against Murray, who's still 10-0 on clay this year.
Also on Day 4, seventh-seeded David Ferrer tackled fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and an eighth-seeded Wawrinka topped Austrian Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.