Rafael Nadal won through to the quarter-finals of the clay-court event in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, beating compatriot Nicolas Almagro in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
The troubled Mallorcan is the top seed in what is his second tournament since being humbled in the first round of the Australian Open.
Beaten in the semi-finals in Buenos Aires last weekend by Dominic Thiem, Nadal found world number 53 Almagro rather more accommodating, although he only advanced after one hour, 40 minutes on court.
It was Nadal’s 14th victory in 15 meetings with Almagro and he will face Oleksandr Dolgopolov in the next round after the Ukrainian beat another Spaniard, Inigo Cervantes-Huegun, in three sets.
The 14-time major winner, who won the title in the Olympic host city in 2014, is joined in the next round by compatriot David Ferrer.
Seeded two, Ferrer overcame the loss of the opening set to beat fellow countryman Albert Ramos 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 and set up a meeting with Thiem—the tournament winner in Buenos Aires last week—in the last eight.

Del Potro in Delray Beach QF
Injury-nagged 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro advanced Thursday to the quarter-finals of the ATP Delray Beach Open by defeating Australian qualifier John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-4.
In only the second match of his comeback after sitting out for nearly a year, the 27-year-old Argentine wildcard entrant booked a last-eight date with French fifth seed Jeremy Chardy, who ousted American wildcard Noah Rubin 6-4, 6-2 in another second-round match.
“We’ve known each other since we were kids. He’s a good friend of mine,” Chardy said of Del Potro. “I was really happy for him to come back. For a tennis player, the worst is to be injured. We need players like him on the tour.”
Del Potro, ranked 1,042nd in the world after missing most of the 2014 and 2015 seasons with a left wrist injury, underwent surgery last June and had not played an ATP match since last March until this week.
Smith, a left-hander ranked 135th in the world, was broken in the last game of the first set. He broke to lead 2-1 but Del Potro broke back in the fourth game.
The South American broke to lead 5-3 and served for the match but Smith broke back and served to pull level, only to have Del Potro end matters after 77 minutes when the Aussie netted a forehand.
Del Potro and Chardy, ranked 30th, have split two career meetings. Del Potro won a 2012 Cincinnati quarter-final but the Frenchman took a five-set triumph in the third round of the 2013 Australian Open.
US wildcard Tim Smyczek rallied to upset US seventh seed Donald Young 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, setting up a quarter-final matchup against another compatriot, Sam Querrey.
Querrey went down a break early in each set but fought back both times for a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over American left-hander Austin Krajicek.
Kyrgios, Cilic into Marseille semis
Croatia’s Marin Cilic reached his first semi-final of the season beating Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4 at the ATP Marseille Open yesterday as Australian Nick Kyrgios whipped home hope Richard Gasquet 6-0, 6-4.
Cilic wrapped up the tie in 66 minutes, spoiling 24-year-old Russian Kuznetsov’s bid for a first ATP World Tour semi-final appearance having now lost all seven quarter-finals he has competed in.
Cilic, 27, is looking to reach the Marseille final for the second time, having finished runner-up in 2011.
He next faces either top seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland or Frenchman Benoit Paire who play later.
Frenchman Gasquet, ranked 10, who pulled out of Rotterdam last week with flu, had won two weeks ago in neighbouring Montpellier.
But he was no match for the 41st-ranked Kyrgios, whose powerful serve helped him in a straightforward victory in under an hour.
The 20-year-old fired 17 aces, dropping just six points on serve and breaking Gasquet four times.
It was just Kyrgios’s second win over Gasquet in six meetings, after the second round of Wimbledon in 2014.
He will bid to reach his second ATP World Tour final against either Czech Tomas Berdych or Belgian David Goffin on Saturday, having reached his maiden final last year in Estoril where he finished runner-up to Gasquet.