Four-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal improved his record at the Foro Italico to 24-1 with a methodical 6-3, 6-2 win over 39th-ranked Victor Hanescu of Romania at the Rome Masters Thursday. Nadal faced five break points late in the match and saved all of them, including one when he was serving for the match. He then set up match point by winning a long rally that saw the Spaniard rush to the net and then back to the baseline to chase down a lob with an over-the-shoulder shot, finally setting up a volley winner into an open court - after which Hanescu was forced to sit down and regain his breath. Nadal then closed it out with an overhead smash on his first match point. Second-ranked Novak Djokovic will get a chance to avenge a recent loss when he plays Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters. Djokovic beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-4, 6-4, while Verdasco eliminated Spanish compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (2). Fourth-seeded Andy Murray and No. 5 Robin Soderling were both eliminated. The 13th-seeded David Ferrer beat Murray 6-3, 6-4 and Stanislas Wawrinka took out Soderling 6-3, 6-2. Wawrinka will next face Nadal. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced beating Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4, while Ernests Gulbis of Latvia beat Italian wild card Filippo Volandri 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4). Gulbis will next meet Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who advanced when 11th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia strained a muscle in his left side during the pre-match warmup. Henin cruises In Germany, Justine Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix and the path to her first title in her comeback was eased when top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki lost Thursday. Henin outlasted eighth-seeded Belgian teammate Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 7-5. An ailing Wozniacki lost 6-4, 6-4 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Second-seeded Dinara Safina beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-0 to make the last eight. Qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova of Russia produced another upset by ousting sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, the 2008 Stuttgart champion, eased past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2. Seventh-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia rallied to beat Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 for a place in the last eight, extending her winning streak on clay to nine. Halep upsets Schnyder In Morocco, Romanian teenager Simona Halep reached her first career WTA Tour semifinals by stunning second-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 7-6 (3) at the Grand Prix SAR Thursday. Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic will also play in her first semifinal on the main tour after beating fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5, 6-2. Alize Cornet of France and Voracova's compatriot, Iveta Benesova, also advanced to the last four. The seventh-seeded Benesova rallied past Laura Pous Tio of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-0, while Cornet defeated Anne Keothavong of Britain 7-5, 6
