ACAPULCO, Mexico — Rafael Nadal's return from injury gathered pace Wednesday as the former world No. 1 downed Argentina's Martin Alund 6-0, 6-4 to reach the Mexican Open quarterfinals. The second-seeded Nadal made short work of the first set before fending off a more determined Alund in the second to finish the match in just over 85 minutes Alund at the clay court tournament. Nadal will next face another Argentine in Leonardo Mayer, who defeated Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-2 to advance. "Leo is a player with a lot of potential, a hard hitter so it's going to be a tough match. I want to play as good as my first set today, if I can do it, my chances will be greater, otherwise, it's going to be very hard," Nadal said. Top Seeded David Ferrer earlier downed American Wayne Odesnik 6-2, 6-1 to book his place in the final eight. Nadal is making a comeback after being away from the tour for more than seven months with a left-knee injury. He made the final of the VTR Open earlier this month in Chile before losing to Argentine Horacio Zeballos and a week later beat David Nalbandian to claim the Brazil Open title. On Tuesday, Nadal said he may pull out of next week's Indian Wells Masters in California to spare his fragile knees from the hard courts. Men's third seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain also advanced, rallying in the second set to finish off a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over compatriot Tommy Robredo. Ferrer next faces Italian Paolo Lorenzi, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Spain's Pablo Andujar. Venus advances Venus Williams beat Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Tennis Cup Wednesday. Williams converted on her fourth match point to beat the 96th-ranked Muguruza in 2 hours, 12 minutes on hard court at the southern Brazilian city of Florianopolis. Williams will now play fifth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who defeated qualifier Beatriz Garcia Vidagany of Spain 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Earlier Wednesday, Timea Babos of Hungary beat fourth-seeded Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-1, 6-2. Babos will play Monica Niculescu of Romania, who easily beat defeated Tereza Mrdeza of Croatia 6-1, 6-1. Olga Puchkova of Russia continued her remarkable run with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Caroline Garcia of France. Puchkova will play the quarterfinals against Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, who beat eighth-seeded Annika Beck of Germany 7-6 (6), 6-4. Melinda Czink of Hungary defeated Brazilian Bia Haddad Maia 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) to set up a quarterfinal match against Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, who cruised past Tatjana Malek of Germany 6-2, 6-1. — Agencies
