French Open: Rafel Nadal faces Maximilian Marterer for quarter-final spot

Reuters

Paris: World number one Rafael Nadal will aim to book his place in the quarter-finals of the ongoing French Open when he crosses swords with Maximilian Marterer of Germany in their last-16 clash here on Monday.

Earlier, Nadal continued his rich vein of form as he stormed into the pre-quarterfinals without dropping a set, clinching a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over 27th seed Richard Gasquet of France in a one-sided third round of the men`s singles event.

The Spaniard will now meet Marterer for the first time, with Nadal also having a great record of making it to the quarter-finals in 11 of 13 appearances at Roland Garros. Meanwhile, fifth-seed Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina will take on America`s John Isner for a place in last-eight.

In women`s singles event, three-time champion Serena Williams will lock horns with her long-time rival Maria Sharapova of Russia in the highly-anticipated last-16 match.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion will meet two-time French Open winner Sharapova for the 22nd time, with Serena winning 19 of those matches.

While Serena will head into the clash on the back of comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over 11th seed Julia Gorges of Germany, Sharapova clinched a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Karolína Plíškova of Czech Republic in their third-round clash.