Nadal cruises into US Open quarters

Nadal broke Lopez, ranked 23rd for the tournament, once in each of the three sets to record a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory that showed him at his most professional rather than dominant.

The 24-year-old was quickly into his stride, breaking at the first attempt as he notched the first three games of the match.

Lopez did manage to halt the procession but Nadal was looking strong and even managed to defend four break points on his way to a 6-3 first-set win.

The Wimbledon champion was forced to work hard at the start of the second set, which followed serve for four games until Lopez capitulated with a weak third service game.

That offered Nadal a chance to seal the set provided he could defend his own serve and with Lopez looking functional rather than inspired he did so, serving to love to clinch a 2-0 advantage.

Lopez continued to work hard but he simply did not have the firepower to dent his illustrious countryman's serve.

Nadal made his move in the ninth game of the third set, breaking and then serving out the match in style.

The world number one will meet Fernando Verdasco in the last eight after he came back from two sets down in another all-Spanish match-up against David Ferrer.

Ferrer, seeded 10th, went down 7-5 7-6 (10/8) 3-6 3-6 6-7 (4/7).

Elsewhere, Stanislas Wawrinka followed up his win over Andy Murray by prevailing 7-6 (11-9) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 4-6 6-4 in an epic against Sam Querrey to reach the last eight of a grand slam for the first time.

Twelfth seed Mikhail Youzhny secured a 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over Spain's Tommy Robredo.

In the women's event, second seed Kim Clijsters booked a semi-final meeting with Venus Williams - the lone US survivor at Flushing Meadows - after beating Sam Stosur 6-4 5-7 6-3 despite an error-strewn performance.

Third seed Williams beat Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.