Nadal powers past Norrie to reach Bastad quarters

Rafael Nadal dominates Cameron Norrie in straight sets at Bastad Open, showcasing his clay court prowess.

Rafael Nadal continued his Olympic preparations with a confident 6-4, 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie at the Bastad Open on Thursday, showing signs of the power hitting that fired him to 14 French Open titles.

The 38-year-old Spaniard continued his return to winning ways on the Swedish clay as he moved into the quarter-finals, racking up his ninth Tour win of the year and back-to-back wins for the first time since reaching the last-16 of the Madrid Open in April.

"Great feelings now, I've been a while now without playing on the Tour since Roland Garros and had the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron," said Nadal during his on-court interview.

"I think I played, for moments, good tennis."

Nadal now leads the former world number eight Briton 5-1 in their head-to-head record.

Nadal showed few signs of rustiness from the get-go against fifth-seed Norrie, clipping a superb forehand winner down the line after taking it on the half-volley behind his own baseline in the very first game.

The decisive moment of the first set came at 3-3 when the Spaniard converted his third break point to get the edge on the Briton, before holding off a late challenge by his opponent to serve out the set.