Top seed and World No.1 Rafael Nadal was taken the distance by Frenchman Julien Benneteau, but he ensured the win in three sets to reach the quarterfinals of the 2010 Western and Southern Financial Group masters, an ATP World Tour 1000 event, being played here in Cincinnati, USA.

Re-visit the tense moments of Nadal-Benneteau tussle, click here.

Nadal opened the match on a bad note and lost his serve in the opening game to give Benneteau a quick lead. Things however took a U-turn when Nadal got the break back to level things at 5-5 before giving Benneteau another opportunity in the eleventh game through a break and lose the set by 5 games to 7.

The second set saw Benneteau race to a break lead for 3-2, just to be broken back immediately by the feisty Mallorcan, who then pushed the set into a deciding tie-break. At 6-5, Benneteau held a match point, but Nadal kept hold of his serve and nerve to level the contest at one set a piece.

The onset of the decider witnessed Benneteau struggle with Nadal's improved play and leg cramps that forced him to literally concede the first three games without any fight. The fourth game did bring one of the breaks back for Benneteau, but then it was too late and Nadal wrapped up the two hour and 48 minutes battle with a 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2 scoreline.

Meanwhile, defending champion Roger Federer continued his smooth sailing in the tournament when his opponent, German Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew from the match due to a right shoulder injury. Federer is yet to complete a match in Cincinnati as he received a bye in the first round and led Denis Istomin 5-2 in the second round before the Uzbek retired with an injury.

Finally, in the biggest upset of the day, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis knocked out Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4 in little over two hours in play. Baghdatis has enjoyed a successful hardcourt tennis tourney this year with a title in Sydney and a runner-up finish in Washington two weeks ago.