Rafael Nadal pips Kevin Anderson to quarter-final spot in Paris

Rafael Nadal came from a set down to beat Kevin Anderson and move into the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters tonight.

The Spaniard dusted himself down following a 4-6 first-set defeat to win the next two 7-6(6) 6-2 in a two-and-a-half-hour marathon with his South African counterpart.

The key to Anderson drawing first blood in the match came in the third game when he broke the Nadal serve en route to moving halfway toward a spot in the last eight.

Nothing could separate the pair in a fiercely competitive second set which yielded no breaks of serve, with world number six Nadal ultimately clinching the tie-break 8-6 to level up the match.

The setback deflated Anderson - ranked 12th in the world - as he lost his serve in the first and seventh games of the decider to allow Nadal cruise into the quarters, where he faces Stanislas Wawrinka.