Rafael Nadal subdued the precocious talent of Denis Shapovalov to reach the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Shapovalov went into the match with a winning record against  Nadal  after beating him on home soil in Canada last summer but the Spaniard on clay is, of course, a very different proposition and he ultimately eased to a 6-4 6-1 victory.

There were plenty of the eye-catching shots that make 19-year-old Shapovalov such an exciting prospect as he saved eight break points in his first two service games, but  Nadal  broke for 4-3 and thereafter was in control.

Shapovalov not surprisingly began to look tired in the second set after his run to the Madrid semi-finals last week and battling victories over Tomas Berdych and Robin Haase in the first two rounds here and could not live with the relentlessness of  Nadal .

In the last eight  Nadal  will face another flashy player in Italian Fabio Fognini, who delighted the home crowd with a 6-4 6-4 win against Peter Gojowczyk.

Fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro retired with a groin injury during the second set of his clash with David Goffin.

The Argentinian did not appear comfortable at any point in the match and went off court for a medical time-out early in the second set.

Initially that seemed to adversely affect Goffin but, after missing a set point, Del Potro decided he could no longer continue and shook hands trailing 2-6 5-4.

The 29-year-old will hope to recover in time for the French Open, which begins on May 27.

Tenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta recovered from a second-set wobble to beat Aljaz Bedene 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-2.