(Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal was undeterred by his abdominal injury, relying on his superb ground game to advance in four sets to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, tennis' final Grand Slam event of the year.

Meanwhile, hard-hitting Croat Marin Cilic surprisingly breezed past last year's runner-up, second-seeded Andy Murray, while big Argentine Juan Martin del Potro was an easy fourth-round winner to move on to the quarters.

The third-seeded Nadal, who aggravated his injury in his third-round victory, could not fire an ace past 13th-seeded Gael Monfils but did not double fault, either, as he rallied from a first set defeat to post a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win in two hours and 45 minutes. He committed only 24 errors the entire match, while Monfils recorded 63; Nadal was also a superb 8-for-14 in break chances, while Monfils was 3-for-6.

"Yeah, sure, is important match for the confidence," said Nadal. "Is very good comeback, to be here in quarterfinals. Right now, the rest of the tournament I know is going to be very difficult. I have to enjoy it. I must enjoy that, and I must to play very aggressive and the best tactically if I'm going to have chances to continue to win any match."

In the opening set, Monfils looked quite strong, breaking in the fifth game to gain a 4-1 advantage. Nadal managed to break in the ninth game to get back on serve at 5-4, and the two eventually went to a tiebreaker. Monfils fed off the crowd's energy to win the first set and received a warning from the chair umpire for excessive celebration.

From that point, it was all Nadal. On serve in the second set through five games, Nadal broke in the sixth game on a forehand winner after a weak net approach by Monfils. The two then traded breaks, and Nadal, up 5-3, had three set points to put his opponent away. Monfils showed some life, forcing a deuce, but Nadal won the following two points to tie the match at a set apiece.

Nadal, who won 74 percent of the time when he had a successful first serve, dominated the third set, breaking Monfils three times in 28 minutes. The Spaniard won 27-of-41 points in the set and made only two errors.

The six-time Grand Slam champion Nadal broke in the fourth game of the fourth set and appeared to be cruising at 3-1, but Monfils showed same late life again by breaking in the next game to get back on serve. Monfils would hold serve to square the set at 3-3, but Nadal took over from there, breaking in the eighth game and holding serve the rest of the way to advance to the quarters for the third time at the U.S. Open.

Nadal, who needs a U.S. Open victory to complete the career Grand Slam, was seen doing his trademark fist pump before raising his arms in celebration after the victory. The win ensures that the former world No. 1 will overtake Murray in the rankings and reclaim the second spot behind Roger Federer following the tournament.

Murray performed uncharacteristically poor against Cilic, as the 16-seed dominated in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory at Ashe Stadium.

After saving a pair of set points, the 6-foot-6 Cilic broke a flat Murray to capture the opening stanza on Day 9 and never looked back. The tall Croat broke Murray to open the second set and broke again for a 3-0 lead in the stanza, as he continued to pile up winners, including a set-ending ace.

In the third set, Cilic broke to start and simply cruised to the finish line. Cilic converted on his first match point when one final Murray forehand sailed beyond the baseline.

Cilic advanced in 2 hours, 8 minutes, as he fired 22 more winners (35-13) than Murray and broke the Scot's serve five times while holding his serve throughout the day.

The 20-year-old Cilic will now appear in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal after recording his first-ever victory against a Top-3 player.

Cilic's round-of-eight opponent will be the sixth-seeded 6-foot-6 del Potro, who blew past 2003 U.S. Open runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.

A ruthless del Potro swatted 22 aces on his way to tallying 23 more winners (44-21) than his Spanish counterpart. Ferrero was unable to break del Potro's ever-improving serve, while the Argentine recorded four breaks en route to victory.

The 24th-seeded former French Open champion Ferrero is a former world No. 1 who lost to Andy Roddick in the final here six years ago.

The 20-year-old del Potro will appear in his third major quarterfinal (1-1) this year. The lanky Argentine also reached the U.S. Open quarters last year.

Nadal's opponent in the quarterfinals will be 11th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who ousted No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

Tsonga, who had his best U.S. Open run this year, took the first set with relative ease before Gonzalez turned the match around with a break in the second set.

Each stayed on serve in the third set before Gonzalez handled the tiebreaker, and Tsonga failed to hold serve down 5-4 in the third to end any chance of advancing.

"He (Gonzalez) played unbelievable all match today against Tsonga," Nadal said. "Very good tennis, unbelievable forehands, so I know him very well. He knows me very well. I have to play aggressive. If he gets the control of the point with his forehand, it's almost impossible to beat him."

Nadal leads the all-time series with Gonzalez, 6-3, and has dominated of late, winning the last five matches. The two have faced off twice in 2009, including a Nadal straight-set win in this year's Australian Open fourth round en route to the title.

The men will start the quarterfinals on Wednesday, as world No. 1 Federer and fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic highlight the action with their respective matches. Federer faces off against 12th-seeded Robin Soderling, while Djokovic battles 10th-seeded Fernando Verdasco.

The U.S. Open winner will receive at least $1.6 million.



























































































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