Nadal Wins Through to Quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal continued the imperious defence of French Open title with a comfortable victory over world No14 Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round.

As well as taking him through to the quarter-finals, the win represented an impressive 57th consecutive clay court win for the 20-year-old Spaniard, who has never lost at Roland Garros.

Hewitt pushed Nadal hard despite declaring himself only 80 per cent fit before the encounter, relentlessly chasing apparent lost causes before eventually succumbing 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 defeat. It was the Australian's first ever defeat to Nadal, having previously beaten him three times out of three, but always on hard court surfaces.

Nadal will next play either French hope Gaël Monfils or Serbian Novak Djokovic for a place in the last four.

Elsewhere in the men's fourth round Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo crashed out to Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in four sets, while fellow Spaniard Alberto Martin retired hurt against Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

In the fourth round of the women's singles, Switzerland's Martina Hingis saw off Israel's Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.