<p>Rafael Nadal battled into the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Australian Jordan Thompson at Bercy Arena.</p>.<p>World number 61 Thompson gave Nadal plenty to think about but missed a set point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.</p>.<p>Top seed Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by coming from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, has never won the Paris title.</p>.<p>Playing in his first tournament since taking a record-extending 13th French Open crown across the French capital at Roland Garros last month, Nadal will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta for a semi-final spot.</p>.<p>Nadal raced through the opener against Thompson in just 31 minutes, breaking twice and sealing it on his fourth set point after a brief stutter from 40-0 up in the seventh game.</p>.<p>Thompson put up more of a fight in the second set, but missed a set point when 6-5 ahead as Hawkeye showed a Nadal backhand had landed on the baseline.</p>.<p>The world number two held his serve and upped his game in the tie-break to secure victory.</p>.<p>Nadal has still never failed to reach the quarter-finals at Bercy in his eight appearances despite only making the final once, when he lost to David Nalbandian in 2007.</p>.<p>He is bidding to equal Novak Djokovic's record of 36 Masters titles this week.</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal battled into the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Australian Jordan Thompson at Bercy Arena.</p>.<p>World number 61 Thompson gave Nadal plenty to think about but missed a set point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.</p>.<p>Top seed Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by coming from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, has never won the Paris title.</p>.<p>Playing in his first tournament since taking a record-extending 13th French Open crown across the French capital at Roland Garros last month, Nadal will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta for a semi-final spot.</p>.<p>Nadal raced through the opener against Thompson in just 31 minutes, breaking twice and sealing it on his fourth set point after a brief stutter from 40-0 up in the seventh game.</p>.<p>Thompson put up more of a fight in the second set, but missed a set point when 6-5 ahead as Hawkeye showed a Nadal backhand had landed on the baseline.</p>.<p>The world number two held his serve and upped his game in the tie-break to secure victory.</p>.<p>Nadal has still never failed to reach the quarter-finals at Bercy in his eight appearances despite only making the final once, when he lost to David Nalbandian in 2007.</p>.<p>He is bidding to equal Novak Djokovic's record of 36 Masters titles this week.</p>