TENNIS in DEPTH.

Rafael Nadal survived another major scare before edging past Tommy Robredo to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

Robredo served for the match at 5-4 in the final set but was unable to close out a famous win against his fellow Spaniard.

Nadal, who saved five match points against Nicolas Almagro in the previous round, made the most of his reprieve to seal a 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory. Both Robredo and Almagro are players that Nadal should have little or no trouble in beating, yet he continues to struggle with his game. Hi s next match with Tsonga could well be his final one of this tournament.

The world number two will face France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight after Tsonga’s 6-2 6-3 demolition of compatriot Gilles Simon.

Tsonga qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals with victory in this event last year, and remained on course for a repeat as he overpowered Simon.

The other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw sees Robin Soderling take on in-form world number three Novak Djokovic.

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