Tuesday, September 5 2006 15:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Two-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal has conquered clay and now he has his sights set on cement.

The 20-year-old Nadal continued his solid play on the Flushing Meadows' hard courts, beating Czech veteran Jiri Novak 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 and extending his winning streak in New York to four matches.

Novak put up a struggle, firing eight aces but he couldn't overcome the speedy lefthanded Spaniard who ran down every ball, hit thundering forehands and celebrated winning shots with double fist pumps.

"I am not playing my best but I am happy to be in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam," Nadal said.

"Last year was tough for me. I hope to at least get to the semi-finals and be one of the top four," he said.

But make no mistake because Nadal, who is ranked No 2 in the world, also believes he can win here.

He closed out the 2hr 10min match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the third set with a backhand slice that Novak dropped into the net.

He will next play Mikhail Youzhny of Russia who booked a place in the round of eight by demolishing sixth seeded Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.

Nadal came to New York looking to better his third-round performance in 2005 when he was upset by American James Blake 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. In his first two appearances in 2003 and 2004, Nadal was eliminated in the second round.

Nadal, who lost to Federer in the final at Wimbledon, had two service breaks in the first set, two in the second and one in the final game of the third.

The second set tie-break turned on the sixth point after one of the longest rallies of the match. Down 3-2, Nadal lunged for a deep forehand and somehow managed to volley it back over the net and fooled Novak to make it 3-3.



"If I lose that point I would have been down 4-2 and you never know what could happen after that," said Nadal, who celebrated with a backpeddling double fist pump.

Nadal said he injured his foot in Sunday's third round match against Wesley Moodie and that it started to bother him in the third set on Monday.

He doesn't expect it to be a problem going forward.

"I started to feel pain in the foot. It is not serious. I have 48 hours to recover before I play Youzhny," Nadal said.

This has also been a successful US Open for Novak, a former top 10 player, who matched his best result here by reaching the round of 16.

Novak won 69 percent of his first-serve points but he committed 32 unforced errors and five double faults.

It was the third-career meeting between the two with Nadal now holding a 2-1 edge. Nadal is hoping for a good run in New York so he can gain ground in the top rankings on his main rival and top seed Federer, who Nadal has beaten in five of their last six meetings. Federer's lone victory in that two years span came in the Wimbledon final in July.