Rafael Nadal hits a shot during his match against John Isner.

Rafa Nadal produced an “almost perfect” display as he booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters with a 6-4 6-4 victory over John Isner yesterday.

The fourth seed was imperious against the big-serving American.

He did not face a single break point and won 90 per cent of his first-service points.

“I was almost perfect,” Nadal told Sky Sports Italia.

“It was a good match, I’m satisfied.”

The Spaniard, who fell to seventh in the rankings after Sunday’s final defeat to Andy Murray in Madrid, looked to be back on the path to discovering his best claycourt form.

The warm weather made the court faster and Nadal’s top-spin forehand forced Isner on the defensive, something the statuesque American does not do well.

Nadal, a seven-time champion in Rome, will face Stanislas Wawrinka after the Swiss player had the better of French player Dominic Thiem 7-6 6-4.

In the women’s event, second seed Simona Halep easily downed Venus Williams 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour while Eugenie Bouchard double faulted on match point, before losing to Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6 (7).

Meanwhile, Andy Murray and Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament ahead of their third-round matches.

Murray said he was tired, while Williams claimed she was suffering with an elbow injury.

“I practised 40 minutes and felt exhausted,” Murray said ahead of his match against David Goffin.

“It didn’t make sense for me to keep going because when you feel like this it becomes a risk to play.”

Murray recently won back-to-back tournaments in Munich and Madrid.

“They’ve been three very long weeks for me,” Murray added. “The longest on clay in my career.”

Williams cited an elbow injury as the reason for her withdrawal.

“I’ve been dealing with it since last week in Madrid,” Williams said.

“It was a difficult decision but I should be ready for Paris.”

Other results: Federer bt Anderson 6-3, 7-5; Ferrer bt Garcia Lopez 6-1 6-3; Djokovic bt Bellucci 5-7 6-2 6-3.