MEXICO CITY: Rafael Nadal routed Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday night in Acapulco to advance to the Mexican Open quarterfinals.
Nadal won the tournament in 2005 and 2013 and has a 12-match winning streak in the event.
"Unfortunately, I will lose eventually," Nadal said. "But the harmony with the crowd and the court is amazing. With all of the support from the people, it gets easier."
The 30-year old Spanish star will face Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 winner over Australia's Jordan Thompson.
Nadal is playing in his first tournament since losing to Roger Federer in the Australian Open final.
"I played a complete match today and I'm feeling great after a month without playing," Nadal said.
Nadal is seeded second in the tournament, an Open 500 hard-court event that is loaded with a draw that also includes Serbian star Novak Djokovic and Croatia's Marin Cilic.
The third-seeded Cilic beat countryman Borna Couric 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals for the second tournament in a row. He will play American Steve Johnson, a 7-6 (5), 6-3 winner over countryman Ernesto Escobedo.
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Earlier, American Sam Querrey beat fifth-seed David Goffin 6-2, 6-3 of Belgium. Querrey, a semifinalist last year, will fac the winner of the match between defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria and Adrian Mannarino of France.
Querrey served seven aces and finished off Goffin in just over an hour. Goffin, 11th in the ATP rankings, was coming off a strong performance in Rotterdam, where he lost the final to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.
Also, Australian Nick Kyrgios had a 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Donald Young. Kyrgios will play the winner of the match between the top-seeded Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina.
On the women's side, Puerto Rico's Monica Puig, the fourth-seed, beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-4. Also, the Ukraine's Lesia Turenko led Julia Goerges 6-1, 2-0 when the German retired. Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic also retired from her match against Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, who was winning 7-5 after the first set.
In a match between Americans, Christina McHale beat Taylor Townsend 6-1, 7-6 (5), and third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia advanced with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over American Madison Brengle. France's Pauline Parmentier beat eighth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and Kristina Mladenovic, from France, defeated Heather Watson, from Britain 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 7-5 in a match that lasted three hours, 32 minutes, four minutes shy of the longest WTA match of the year.