Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball during the men's singles second round match against Marcos Daniel of Brazil in 2010's Aegon Championships at the Queen's Club in London, Britain, June 9, 2010. Nadal won 2-0. [Xinhua/Tang Shi]

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal met strong challenges from Denis Istomin at the ATP Queen's Club tournament on Thursday, but managed to advance into the quarterfinals after three sets.

Nadal couldn't solve the world No. 72 from Uzbekistan until taking the tiebreak 7-4 in the opening set, then lost the second set 4-6 to the big server.

In the decider, the five-time French Open champion Nadal wrapped it up 6-4.

Nadal's next opponent is his compatriot Feliciano Lopez, as the eighth seed beat French Julien Benneteau 6-2, 6-4.