Rafael Nadal battled into the Paris Masters quarter-finals yesterday with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Australian Jordan Thompson at Bercy Arena.
World number 61 Thompson gave Nadal plenty to think about, but missed a set point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion. 
Top seed Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by coming from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, has never won the Paris title.
Playing in his first tournament since taking a record-extending 13th French Open crown across the French capital at Roland Garros last month, Nadal will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta for a semi-final spot.
Nadal raced through the opener against Thompson in just 31 minutes, breaking twice and sealing it on his fourth set point after a brief stutter from 40-0 up in the seventh game.
Thompson put up more of a fight in the second set, but missed a set point when 6-5 ahead as Hawkeye showed a Nadal backhand had landed on the baseline.
The world number two held his serve and upped his game in the tie-break to secure victory.
Nadal has still never failed to reach the quarter-finals at Bercy in his eight appearances despite only making the final once, when he lost to David Nalbandian in 2007. 
He is bidding to equal Novak Djokovic’s record of 36 Masters titles this week.
Earlier Argentinian Diego Schwartzman moved within one win of reaching the ATP Tour Finals for the first time thanks to a third-round thrashing of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The sixth seed raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in only an hour and will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals today after the Russian’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alex de Minaur. Schwartzman will qualify for the Tour Finals if he wins that match or if Pablo Carreno Busta does not take the title. 
“Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be a different match and it will be tough because I want to be in London,” said Schwartzman. 
“I need to do everything in my hands.”
The season-ending event, being played in London for the last time before moving to Turin, gets underway on November 15.
Davidovich Fokina beat former Bercy champion Karen Khachanov in the first round, 
but was no match for Schwartzman.
The 28-year-old broke five times and saved the four break points he faced, which all came in the opening game of the match.
Medvedev battled back from a set down to see off US Open quarter-finalist De Minaur and reach the last eight for the first time. All seven of his ATP Titles have come on hard courts, with three of those also indoors.