Matosevic to quarter clash with Nadal

Australian Marinko Matosevic has reached his first Masters Series quarter-final and booked a game with 12-times grand slam champion Rafael Nadal in the process.

Fourth seed Nadal, playing his first event in seven weeks since losing in the first round at Wimbledon to Belgian Steve Darcis, beat Polish 15th seed Jerzy Janowicz, a surprise semi-finalist at the All England Club, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

Matosevic needed two-and-a-half hours to defeat Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (10-12) 6-3 at the Montreal Masters - but the reward was a big one.

The wildly inconsistent Paire produced 16 aces and a dozen double-faults while saving eight of 13 break points against Matosevic.

Nadal, a winner of seven titles already this year, was pleased with his victory.

"I had a very good victory today against a very difficult opponent," Nadal said.

"I did a few things well and there are a few things I need to improve a little bit more.

"In general, I'm pleased with the way I played."

The French Open champion has now won 45 matches since his return in February from a seven-month injury lay-off.

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray slumped to a shock 6-4 6-3 defeat to Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.

Murray, who had won all five previous meetings with the colourful Gulbis, saw his 13-match winning streak ended.

Top seed Novak Djokovic dropped the opening set but recovered quickly to earn a 2-6 6-4 6-4 win over Denis Istomin in the late match to book a quarter-final against French seventh seed Richard Gasquet, who beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 1-6 6-3 6-3.