Rafael Nadal battles past Grigor Dimitrov to reach ATP 500 Basel quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal is through to the quarter-final of the ATP 500 Basel after battling past a spirited Grigor Dimitrov to win 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Third seed Nadal, who was broken four times by Dimitrov in the match, was behind in all three sets but battled back to win the first and the third.

Dimitrov shot out of the blocks in the first set, breaking Nadal in the opening game but the Spaniard soon broke back and then clinched another break to seal the set.

Having surrendered his foothold in the first set, Dimitrov came out with a renewed sense of urgency in the second, two breaks and a like number of holds giving him an early 4-0 edge before Nadal would get on the board. Nadal battled his way back into the set but Dimitrov held his nerve to level the match.

It was deja vu as Nadal was again broken to open up the decisive third set. But the Spaniard battled back to level the set at 2-2 before taking advantage of a tentative service game from Dimitrov at 3-4 to secure his fifth and final break before serving out for the match.

The hard-fought win took Nadal two hours and 12 minutes to secure and he now moves to face the winner of Marin Cilic and Teymuraz Gabashvili in the last eight.

Ivo Karlovic pulled off an upset when he defeated home favourite Stan Wawrinka 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the first round.

Second seed Wawrinka appeared on course for victory when he took the first set and then went a break up on Karlovic in the second but the Croatian roared back into the match be breaking back and then taking the tiebreaker. 

Karlovic's serve gave Wawrinka trouble throughout and he finished with 21 aces, never looking in danger once he got the all-important break in the third. Karlovic will face Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in the second round.

Fourth seed Kevin Anderson sailed through to the second round of the ATP 500 Basel with a convincing 6-3 6-2 win over Borna Coric.

The South African world No 12 made short work of his Croatian opponent, winning in one hour and hitting 14 aces en route to victory. 

Anderson broke Coric once in the first set and twice in the second while holding his serve throughout and winning 100 per cent of his first-serve points to set up a second round match against Donald Young.

Seventh seed Marin Cilic, buoyed by the confidence of winning his 14th title at Moscow last week, struck 14 aces and lost just four of his first service points to beat Basel native and wild card Marco Chiudinelli 6-3 7-6(3). 

Cilic goes on to face Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round after he defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 7-5 4-6 6-4.

Jack Sock will look to improve on his head-to-head record against his fellow American John Isner after he beat another compatriot, Denis Kudla, 6-4 6-2 in 55 minutes.