( CNN ) -- World No . 1 Rafael Nadal continued his winning ways on clay as he reached the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-3 6-1 win over Colombia 's Santiago Giraldo on Thursday . The Spaniard 's serve was surprisingly broken early by his 54th-ranked opponent , but from 3-3 he dominated the match to set up a clash with French seventh seed Gael Monfils . The 24-year-old has now won 31 consecutive matches on his favored surface , with his last defeat inflicted by Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open . He already holds the record on clay for his 81-match winning run from 2005-07 . Nadal missed last year 's event in the Catalan capital but won the title the previous five years , and now has a record there of 27-1 . He has a tour-leading 26 match victories this season -- two ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer , who are not in the draw . Nadal begins Barcelona bid in style . `` I will be playing against one of best players in the world who has reached the semifinals at Roland Garros , so it will be a tough match , '' Nadal said of Friday 's clash with Monfils . The 24-year-old Monfils , who reached the last four at the French Open in 2008 , moved into the last eight with a 6-4 7-6 ( 9-7 ) victory over ninth-seeded compatriot Richard Gasquet . Monfils , ranked ninth , lost in the last 16 at Monte Carlo in his first match in two months following a wrist injury suffered in San Jose which meant he could not take the court for his semifinal in the U.S. event . Fourth seed David Ferrer , who lost to Nadal in the final in the principality on Sunday , reached the last eight with a 6-3 6-2 win over Romania 's Victor Hanescu . The 29-year-old next faces a rematch with Jurgen Melzer , who he beat in the semis on Saturday . The Austrian sixth seed progressed after coming from behind to beat Ferrer 's 11th-seeded compatriot Albert Montanes 6-7 ( 2-7 ) 6-3 6-2 . The winner of Friday 's Ferrer-Melzer clash will face a Spaniard in the semifinals , with veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero and Nicolas Almagro also going through . Former world No . 1 Ferrero , playing his first event since last September 's U.S. Open following wrist and knee surgery , battled past Italy 's Simone Vagnozzi 7-6 ( 7-3 ) 4-6 6-4 . The 31-year-old won this tournament in 2001 and was runner-up four years later when Nadal embarked on his streak of titles . Eighth seed Almagro ended the hopes of former world No . 3 Nikolay Davydenko , beating the the 29-year-old Russian 7-6 ( 7-2 ) 6-3 . Almagro , 25 , won two lower-level events on clay in South America in February before losing a final in Mexico . Another Spaniard , Feliciano Lopez , continued his country 's dominance by joining Nadal , Ferrer , Ferrero and Almagro in the last eight . The 29-year-old left-hander beat Japan 's Kei Nishikori 6-4 7-6 ( 7-5 ) to set up a clash with Croatia 's 56th-ranked Ivan Dodic , who knocked out young Canadian 15th seed 7-6 ( 7-0 ) 4-6 6-3 . Meanwhile , women 's No . 1 Caroline Wozniacki marched into the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart after a 6-4 6-1 win over home hope Andrea Petkovic on Thursday . The German , ranked 19th , led 4-2 in the opening set but Wozniacki fought back to avenge last month 's defeat at the Miami Masters . The 20-year-old Dane will next play Poland 's Agnieszka Radwanska , who beat German wild-card entry Kristina Barrois 7-5 6-3.. Last year 's runner-up Samantha Stosur also reached the last four as the fifth seed upset world No . 3 Vera Zvonareva , beating the Russian 2-6 6-3 7-6 ( 7-3 ) in two and a half hours . The Australian , losing finalist in last year 's French Open , will next face Julia Gorges -- who beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 6-4 6-4 .
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal extends his unbeaten run on clay to 31 matches . The Spaniard has won all four of their meetings this year and is now just one win away from equalling Pete Sampras' record for most titles in a calendar year. David Ferrer to play Jurgen Melzer in rematch of Monte Carlo semifinals . Last year 's runner-up Sam Stosur beats women 's No . 3 Vera Zvonareva in Stuttgart .