Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated fellow countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets on Friday (August 18) to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final against Australian Nick Kyrgios.

Nadal made a flurry of uncharacteristic errors in the first set but settled down in the second and ultimately cruised to a 7-6(1) 6-2 victory on a humid, gusty day at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati.

The match was one of several postponed on Thursday due to rain, forcing players that advanced during Friday’s daytime matches to return for an encore in the evening.

Nadal dug himself out of a 0-40 hole early in the second set by reeling off five straight points including two aces, putting himself up 3-2.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, who will for the fourth time in his career be the world number one when the ATP rankings come out next week, never looked back from there.

With the win, Nadal improved to 4-0 against Ramos-Vinolas and he has still never dropped a set to the 29-year-old lefty.

Earlier, the 22-year-old Kyrgios, whose match began on Thursday before it was held over due to rain, defeated hard-serving 6-foot 11-inch Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3.

Kyrgios, known as much for his temper as for his brilliant shot-making, threw his racquet down in disgust after losing two straight service points in the tiebreak to even it up at 6-6.

The outburst appeared to work as he won the next two points and then dominated a deflated Karlovic in the final set.

Elsewhere, seventh-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov sailed past Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 6-2 6-1.

Dimitrov will now play American 14th seed John Isner who defeated countryman Jared Donaldson in two set battle 7-6(4) 7-5.

Results:

7-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Yuichi Sugita (Japan) 6-2 6-1

14-John Isner (U.S.) beat Jared Donaldson (U.S.) 7-6(4) 7-5

Round 3

1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 7-6(1) 6-2

Nick Kyrgios (Australia) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3