The undisputed King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, restored some Spanish pride in Madrid yesterday after rallying past the very talented Australian player, Nick Kyrgios, 6-3 6-1, in just 72 minutes at the Mutual Madrid Open.

Nadal’s compatriots, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez both lost their quarter-final matches earlier in the day, but Nadal made good with a MasterClass of note on Court Manolo Santana, blasting five aces past the Australian, who, despite serving three aces himself, also notched up four double faults.

But it was not all doom and gloom for the Aussie, who produced a mixed bag of shots, including some spectacular returns, in an attempt to derail the Spaniard, who was just too good on the day.

Nadal is now one step closer to his third consecutive title on clay this season.

His next opponent will be David Goffin, who defeated Milos Raonic 6-4 6-2 yesterday.