Top seed Rafael Nadal eased into the quarter-finals of the Brasil Open with a 6-3 6-4 victory over home hope Joao Souza.
The former world number one, playing in his second tournament as he makes his comeback from knee problems, broke once in each set for a routine win in an hour and 18 minutes.
The Spaniard, now ranked fifth in the word, will face Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in the next round.
Berlocq advanced with a 7-6 (9/7) 6-4 win over another Spaniard, eighth seed Albert Ramos.
Second seed Nicolas Almagro was pushed hard by qualifier Paul Capdeville before advancing in three sets.
Almagro lost the second set on a tie-break to his Chilean opponent but eventually prevailed 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.
Next up for Almagro is a quarter-final against David Nalbandian, who beat fellow Argentinian Guido Pella 6-4 6-2.
Nalbandian was Nadal’s doubles partner here before the Spaniard pulled out after one match to preserve his knee.
There was a shock for another Argentinian, third seed Juan Monaco, who lost 7-5 6-2 to Simone Bolelli of Italy.
Bolelli will take on Albert Montanes, a 7-5 6-2 winner in his all-Spanish clash with seventh seed Pablo Andujar.
Finally, Filippo Volandri of Italy upset Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, the fifth seed, winning 6-3 6-2 in an hour and nine minutes.
