US Open 2017: Rafael Nadal outclasses Alexandr Dolgopolov to book quarter-final spot

The 15-times Grand Slam winner Nadal will face Andrey Rublev, conqueror of ninth seed David Goffin, as he remains on course for a huge semi-final meeting with old rival and world number three Roger Federer in the last four on Friday.

Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Federer will bid to progress to the last eight when he meets Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber later on Monday evening in New York.

French Open champion Nadal had four match points on the Dolgopolov serve before breaking the world number 64's serve for a third time in the set to secure his progress on Arthur Ashe Stadium in one hour and 42 minutes.

This is the first time Nadal has reached the US Open last eight since winning the second of his titles at Flushing Meadows in 2013.

The 28-year-old Ukrainian Dolgopolov looked helpless against the Spaniard's dominant serve, which was boosted by courts made faster due to sunny conditions at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"I think I played a solid match. I played without making many mistakes," Nadal told the crowd in an on-court interview.

Next up for the top seed is a first meeting with 19-year-old Russian Rublev.

Rublev grew up idolising Nadal, along with countryman Marat Safin, and said: "Rafa's the real champion. I'm just going to try to enjoy, I have nothing to lose."

Nadal does not buy that approach, saying: "Of course he's young but, at the same time, he's in the quarter-finals. He has a chance to be in the semi-finals for the first time in his career, and I have been there a couple of times.

"So of course he has things to lose. And of course I have things to lose and things to win. But this sport is about victory. This is not about defeats. At the end of your career, nobody remembers the defeats.

"Of course he's young, and when you are young you feel that everything is new. But he already won a lot of matches on the tour. He's not a kid that he came now in this event.

"He's a great guy. He has been in Majorca practising with me a couple of years ago."

Nadal dominated all facets of Monday's match, never dropping a service game and committing only 11 unforced errors while racking up 23 winners and breaking Dolgopolov six times.

The onslaught was too much for the unseeded Dolgopolov, who was never comfortable enough to unleash his unconventional game that features unexpected drop shots and bold net

1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 6-2 6-4 6-1