MADRID: World No. 20 Nicolas Almagro overcame fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3 to move into the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, avenging his defeat in the Houston final.

Verdasco had beaten Almagro to take the title in Houston 11 days ago, but the sixth seed took his revenge as just one break in the eighth game was enough to take the first set.

Both men broke toward the start of the second set, but again Almagro made his move again toward the end of the set as he broke once more to seal victory.

Almagro will face top seed Rafael Nadal or Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the last eight, who are in action later on Thursday.

There was to be no such joy for another Spaniard Tommy Robredo, though, as he succumbed to 12th seed Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-7 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5).

Cilic will face Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori in the quarters as he eased to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev.

Nishikori is making his first appearance of the season on clay in the Catalan capital and after struggling past Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets on Tuesday, he seemed more at ease as he equalled his best-ever run in Barcelona by reaching the last eight.

Ninth seed Ernests Gulbis also secured his place with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Albert Montanes.

The Latvian will face Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in the last eight after he continued his fine week after shocking second seed David Ferrer on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Inigo Cervantes.

Sharapova into last 8

In Stuttgart, Germany, Maria Sharapova reached the last eight of the Stuttgart WTA tournament on Thursday with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow-Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkova.

It was in stark contrast to her struggles of the previous day when she needed three tie-breaks and almost three-and-a-half hours to defeat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in a first round tie.

Seeded sixth this year, Sharapova is aiming for a third straight title on the red clay of Stuttgart as the preparations for the French Open get fully underway.

The four-time Grand Slam champion looked solid enough on serve, with just five double-faults to eight by her opponent and she had Pavlychenkova under constant pressure with her booming returns.

Her opponent in the quarterfinals will be Polish top seed Agnieszka Radwanska who proved too good for Italan doubles specialist Roberta Vinci, winning 6-3, 6-2.

Djokovic to become a father

World No. 2 tennis star Novak Djokovic announced on Thursday that he and girlfriend Jelena Ristic are expecting their first child.

The Serbian six-time Grand Slam winner is currently sidelined with a right wrist injury picked up at last week’s Monte Carlo Masters but announced the good news on his twitter account.

“Jelena is pregnant !!! We will soon be parents,” the 26-year-old winner of 43 ATP titles tweeted on his account @DjokerNole.

The expectant couple have been dating since 2005 and recently got engaged in September 2013.

Djokovic, who is unsure when he will be fit enough to return, is recovering from his injury by spending a few days in Athens.