The Roland Garros semi-finalist, and Monte Carlo finalist, now faces either 16th seed Ivan Ljubicic or Spain's David Ferrer who upset Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.

BBC: Nadal maintains form

This would be a substantial improvement, equivalent broadly to reducing the amount of corruption in China to that of Hong Kong, or from that in Argentina to the amount in Spain.

ECONOMIST: Reasons to be venal

The win is France's first over Spain since 1923 and sets up a semi-final against either Argentina or Russia.

BBC: France beat Spain to secure Davis Cup semi-final spot