BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal breezed to his 23rd straight victory on clay Thursday, beating Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-2, 6-0 in the third round of the Barcelona Open.

The top-ranked Spaniard is looking to win a fifth straight Godo trophy in Barcelona. He got one step closer when quarterfinal opponent David Nalbandian withdrew with a right hip injury on Thursday.

Earlier, Nalbandian had defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal had 28 winners to Rochus' seven as the 61st-ranked Belgian wilted in the warm conditions, losing his serve twice in the opening set.

Nadal, who has lost only three of his last 131 matches on clay, stretched to his right to send a backhand passing shot beyond Rochus to open the second set with a break. He closed it out on his second match point when the Belgian sent a backhand wide.

Spanish players David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo both rallied to advance. Ferrer best Potito Starace of Italy 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 while Robredo defeated Igor Andreev of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Robredo, the last man to win at Barcelona since Nadal's run, broke Andreev three times and saved all five break points he faced.

Ninth-seeded Radek Stepanek also reached the quarterfinals, beating Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Stepanek will next play either third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko or Feliciano Lopez.