Nadal manages the wind and Pia and qualifies for the quarter-finals in Montreal

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Reigning champion Rafael Nadal maintained his momentum in Canada and easily defeated Argentine Guido Pia 6-3 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup on Thursday night.

Nadal resisted. Who won his fourth tournament title last year, Wind broke Bia's serve four times before winning.

In the first tournament since his defeat against Roger Federer in last month's semifinal at Wimbledon, the Spaniard, 33, had an easier confrontation than beat Englishman Daniel Evans at his opening game Wednesday, after overcoming a late break.

Nadal plays Fabio Funini, the seventh Italian player, who beat Frenchman Adrian Manarino 6-2 7-5.

"He's playing very well," Nadal said of Fonini after defeating Federer with a 379 Masters victory.

"I watched part of their game yesterday. Make a good performance. (Funini) enjoys a wonderful season and is one of the best seasons of his career, if it is not the best. "

"We are in the quarterfinals of the Masters tournament. All competitors are strong. For me, there is a chance to play against one of the best players and I will try to make a good performance. Let's see if I can do it or not.

Earlier, Dominic Tim, seeded second, beat Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Tim, who has never won a game in five attempts in Canada before this week, battled No. 14 seed Cilic while sparing his nine chances to break his serve and relying on successful ground strikes.

The Austrian, who arrived in Montreal after winning the clay-court title at Kitzbühel, where he was ranked number one in the tournament, said his success in his country helped him make the easy transition to the world. short hard.

"In the last three or four years, I have not played worse this year, but I lacked self-confidence and unfortunately came to Canada because I did not play well in my country.

"But this year, things are quite different. I won the title in my home country. And realized one of my biggest dreams. I really feel confident and I'm here now. It's different This has also made the transition very easy.

Tim plays the eighth seed, the Russian Daniel Medvedev, who beat Chilean Christian Garen 6-3, 6-3.

Karen Khchanov also qualified for the quarter-finals with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Canadian Felix Oger-Alyasim, who turned 19 years old.

Germany's third seed Alexander Zverev will face Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili 7-5, 5-7, 7-6.

The Spanish Roberto Bautista defeated Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5 while Gael Monfils beat Hubert Horcach 6-4, 6-0.