Spain’s Rafael Nadal signs autographs after winning his match at the Hamburg Open in northern Germany. (AFP)

Agencies/Hamburg

Rafael Nadal eased into the Hamburg Open quarter-finals yesterday with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic as the Spaniard continues to try and resuscitate his flagging season.
The top-seeded Mallorcan, playing the summer clay-court tournament for the first time in seven years, goes on to face fifth-seeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, who battled past Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Nadal, the 2008 champion in Hamburg, extended his clay record in 2015 to 23-6 as he looks to add to his 46 clay-court titles. Nadal has endured a tough year, losing his French Open title, getting knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon and seeing his ranking slump to 10, his lowest in a decade.

Injured Del Potro in dark over return
Injury-plagued former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro admitted that he still cannot pinpoint a return to the tour after undergoing a fourth wrist operation. The 26-year-old del Argentine has played in just two tournaments in 2015 after managing only four in 2014 while his world ranking has plummeted to 570.
Del Potro underwent his latest wrist surgery in March. “The hardest moments of my career are gone, those in which I didn’t know what I would do next,” del Potro, who parted ways with long-time coach Franco Davin last week, wrote on Facebook.
“I’ve already told you the discomfort of being unable to do what I like and the suffering of watching tennis on TV. Today is a different story. I have great expectations for a new stage that began this week. Today I am more committed than ever to trying to come back. No more doubts or question marks. A new career for me starts today.”
The 2009 US Open champion added: “This week I began rehab and did some light workout. While I start from scratch, I’ve been on a diet to maintain weight. I don’t know how long it will take, I do not know at what level I will play, but I hope to be with you on the tour again.”

Seeds sweep into quarter-finals on Gstaad clay
All eight seeds have survived into the quarter-finals of the Swiss Open, with the top pair of David Goffin and Dominic Thiem leading the way with second-round wins yesterday.
The 14th-ranked Goffin, who reached the Wimbledon fourth round before losing to Stan Wawrinka, is playing as a top seed on the ATP for the second week in a row.
The Belgian has already improved his performance after losing in the Bastad opening round last week. In Gstaad, the highest venue on the ATP circuit at 1,050 meters in altitude, he dispatched Argentine Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-1.
Second seed Thiem also more than fulfilled expectations as last weekend’s Umag champion in Croatia won his fifth match in a row, defeating Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. Sixth seed Joao Sousa had to completed a comeback as Uzbek Denis Istomin served for the match in the third set, with the Portuguese rallying for a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) decision which took more than two and a half hours. He next faces Goffin with pair standing level 1-1 in their series.
Spanish seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta began the day’s programme under clear skies after Wednesday’s poor weather, putting out former finalist Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to line up against Thiem.
Other seeds already into the quarters: number two Feliciano Lopez and fourth-seeed fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar, the defending champion, two-time tournament winner Thomaz Bellucci, seeded fifth, and number eight Colombian Santiago Giraldo.

Federer withdraws from Montreal ATP event
Roger Federer withdrew from next month’s Rogers Cup ATP Masters event in Montreal on Wednesday as he builds toward the US Open. The 33-year-old world number two’s withdrawal was announced in a press release, with reports citing “scheduling issues” for the pullout.  “I am disappointed that I won’t be playing in Montreal because it’s a tournament and a city that I really enjoy and has incredible fans,” the Swiss star said, adding that he hoped to return to the tournament in the future.
Federer, beaten in the Wimbledon final earlier this month, is a two-time winner of the Rogers Cup when it was staged in Toronto in 2004 and 2006. He also finished runner-up last year to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  Jerzy Janowicz of Poland was named to replace Federer in the main draw.