Rafael Nadal plays down French Open chance

The world No 1 reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros with a 7-5 6-3 6-3 victory over Ivan Ljubicic yesterday but again he was not at his best, especially in a very scrappy first set.

Nadal has been exceptionally candid in press conferences during the tournament, talking at length about his struggles with confidence and his game and the difficulties of staying at the top of men's tennis year after year.

The 24-year-old said: "I am not confident. I am not playing well enough to win this tournament the way I played today. That's the truth. You have to be realistic.

"We will see after tomorrow if I am ready to play at this level. I am going to try. But I won five times already here. I don't have an obligation to win six. I am going to try for sure.

"Sometimes it's much more important to win when you are not playing that well than win when you are playing well, because winning when you are playing well probably it is easier." Nadal will play Robin Soderling in the last eight in a repeat of last year's final after the fifth seed saw off France's Gilles Simon 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7/5) yesterday.

The Swede, who also reached the final in 2009, has eased through the draw largely unnoticed and demonstrated what a threat he could be to Nadal with some big hitting.

Novak Djokovic, Nadal's chief rival for the French Open crow, received a free passage through to the semi-finals when Fabio Fognini withdrew through injury yesterday morning.

The Italian, who had never before been past the third round of a grand slam, suffered a small tear in a thigh muscle during his remarkable five-set win over Albert Montanes on Sunday.

Fognini said: "I'm not really happy because this is the best tournament of my career. But it is better like this. The doctor said if I play, it could be dangerous."

The walkover means Djokovic, who will play either Roger Federer or Gael Monfils in the last four, will need to win the tournament to beat John McEnroe's record start to a season of 42 straight wins in 1984.

The Serb will not play again until Friday, and he said on Twitter: "Walkover from Fognini. Bad luck for him, hope he recovers fast. Today I get to enjoy Paris in a different way."

Nadal and Ljubicic differed in their view of whether the break will be a good thing for Djokovic, with the Spaniard saying: "It's fantastic, no? After he doesn't lose a match all year, you think he'll lose his rhythm?"

Ljubicic, though, disagreed, adding: "I don't think that's a good thing for him. I think at this stage to have four days off without competitive matches, it's not easy."Frenchman Monfils finished off a 6-4 2-6 7-5 1-6 8-6 victory over seventh seed David Ferrer to wild acclaim in arguably the match of the tournament.

The pair returned to the court yesterday after darkness had intervened last night with the Spaniard 2-0 up in the fourth set, and he wasted no time in levelling the match.

Ninth seed Monfils then took the initiative in the decider only to tighten up and squander two match points when serving for victory. Ferrer then saved a third before Monfils finally broke serve in the 14th game.

Juan Ignacio Chela reached the quarter-finals for the first time since losing to Tim Henman in 2004 with a 4-6 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 win to end the run of qualifier Alejandro Falla.

In the women's singles, Maria Sharapova continued her impressive form as she booked her place in the quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Agnieszka Radwanska.

The Russian saw off the world number 12 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 on Philippe Chatrier and had to come through the sort of test that will stand her title bid in good stead.

She was on the verge of being taken into a third set when she faced up to five set points, only to come back and take the match, setting up a tie with 15th seed Andrea Petkovic, who beat No 25 Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka eased through to the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Ekaterina Makarova. The fourth seed was the favourite for the title before the tournament started despite never previously having been past the last eight at a grand slam, and she is the highest-ranked player left after early exits for Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva. Azarenka will now play Li Na.