Nadal breezes into last eight in Doha

RAFAEL Nadal barely got out of second gear as he eased his way into the quarter finals of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open in Doha.

MARCHING ON: Rafael Nadal cruises past Potito Starace and into the last eight in Doha (Getty Images)

The world number two and second seed brushed Potito Starace, his second Italian opponent of the tournament, aside 6-2, 6-2.

It took Nadal an hour and 12 minutes to move into the last eight and book a clash with either Steve Darcis of Belgium or Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui as he was rarely troubled by the world number 62.

Once the Spaniard secured an early break of serve it was a mere formality before the former world number one moved into a one-set lead.

And that he did with ruthless efficiency. Nadal snatched a 3-1 lead before effortlessly breaking his opponent again to take the first set 6-2.

To his credit, Starace did not wilt in the second set and held his own with Nadal, rejuvenated after a tired finish to last season, and found himself level at two games apiece.

But Nadal then opened his shoulders and brought out his full repertoire of explosive ground strokes to race to the next four games and complete a comfortable victory.

And while the Spaniard was typically imperious from the baseline, his serve was firing on all cyclinders - giving Starace little chance to break and suggesting Nadal will be in fine fettle when he bids to retain the Australian Open crown later this month.