World number two Rafal Nadal stayed on course for an early title in the new year as he stormed into the quarter-finals of the ATP Chennai Open on Thursday.

The top-seeded Spaniard outclassed qualifier Rajeev Ram, an American citizen born to Indian parents, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round of the season-opening 436,000-dollar event. "The scoreline makes it look as if I had it easy out there but the strong wind made it very tricky and hard to play consistent tennis," the 21-year-old said.

Then he continued his coments on how the score doesn’t often reflect the character of the match. “Always it is the same. Sometimes I win 6-2, 6-2 but I think that was a tough match. Sometime you think you are winning easier and you finish with a score of 6-4 6-4. So the score doesn’t indicate the nature of the game"

Rafa, who is ranked 250 places above Ram, also said that there is no motivation problem when it came to facing such lower-ranked players. “It is a big tournament in the first week of this year. Every match is important for my confidence. The important thing is to win and win without many problems,” the Spaniard said.

On his current form of play, Rafa said, “I don’t know if I am at the top of my game but I know that I am playing much better in this tournament than I did last time.”...."I am glad I came through. This is the first week of the season and I am trying to get into form. I am not looking at winning the title yet. I take it one match at a time."

In the quarter-finals, Rafa meets fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who came from behind to defeat seventh seed Werner Eschauer of Austria, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).