Last year's Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer has booked a rematch with defending champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the 2014 French Open on Monday.
When the pair met at the last year's final, Nadal lost just eight games against his fellow Spaniard to clinch the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
The King of Clay has a better head-to-head record against Ferrer as he has won 21 matches and lost just six. However, Ferrer's most recent victory has come against Nadal on clay, when he defeated the top seed in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, for the first time in 10 years.
Ferrer defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in two hours and 51 minutes, racking up nine aces and 42 winners in the match. The Spaniard made full use of the 40 errors committed by Anderson and booked his fifth appearance in quarterfinals at the Roland Garros.
The fifth seed won 72 percent points on first serve and made just 24 unforced errors. Anderson tried to rally back into the match by winning the third set in the tiebreaker but Ferrer unleashed a number of forehand winners to go straight back into the match. Ferrer broke Anderson's serve in second and fourth game to make his 10th successive quarterfinal appearance in the majors.
Meanwhile, world number one Nadal overpowered Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 at the Court Philippe Chatrier in just one hour and 32 minutes. After going down 5-0 in the first set, the Serb never recovered as the eight-time champion completed an easy victory.
Lajovic had not lost a set before the encounter but he proved to be a no match for Nadal. The Spaniard converted seven break points and won 81 percent points on the first serve.
The Belgrade native broke Nadal's serve in the sixth game of the third set but the Spaniard quickly got the break back, by winning the next game to clinch the tie. Lajovic made 42 unforced errors, compared to Nadal's 19.
Meanwhile, Germany's Andrea Petkovic defeated Dutch Kiki Bertens 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 to cruise into the quarterfinals at the Court Philippe Chatrier. Petkovic survived tense moments in the final set and closed the match with a forehand winner to move ahead in the tournament.
Bertens opened the match by firing winners and taking the first set easily but Petkovic won the next set to force the decider. There was a little to separate the two in the third set but Petkovic got the break in the 11th game and wrapped up the match by holding her serve.
This is the first time since the 2011 US Open that Petkovic has managed to book a last eight berth in a major event, while the Dutch was bidding to become the 10th qualifier to reach the quarters at the Roland Garros.
