The Swiss, playing his first tournament since March after skipping the clay-court season, beat Canadian Milos Raonic for his 98th career title.
Browsing: Rafael Nadal
The 32-year-old world number one now has 17 Grand Slam titles, just three behind great rival Roger Federer
Del Potro often had Nadal in trouble in a ferocious first set but paid heavily for failing to convert any of the six break points that came his way.
The previous match up saw the Spaniard beat del Potro in straight sets in the opening round in 2007.
The 29-year-old powerhouse’s eighth successive defeat of Cilic set up a clash with 10-times champion Rafael Nadal.
Nadal, who turned 32 on Sunday, closed out a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 win over a game Maximilian Marterer in the fourth round and will face Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the semi-finals.
A comprehensive 6-2 6-1 6-1 victory for the Spaniard set up a meeting with 27th seed Richard Gasquet.
Resuming the match on Tuesday after a thunderstorm ended the previous night’s play early in the third set, Nadal was forced to an entertaining tiebreak to wrap up a hard-fought French Open first round encounter.
The Czech risked crashing out in the hands of little-known Paraguayan Veronica Royg before she rallied to a 3-6 6-1 7-5 win.
The former world number one is now ready for a fresh start ahead of next week’s French Open.
Nadal had his work cut out for him to beat defending champion Alexander Zverev, coming back after a rain delay to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Sunday’s 6-1 1-6 6-3 victory over German Alexander Zverev on the Rome dirt ensured the 31-year-old would leapfrog Roger Federer and become world number one for a sixth time ahead of the French Open.
Nadal, who won both Monte Carlo and Barcelona for an 11th time, will also reclaim the coveted world No 1 ranking from Roger Federer when the latest set of rankings are released on Monday
The German defending champion will play on Sunday for the trophy against seven-time winner Rafael Nadal, who has beaten the German in all four of their previous meetings
Top-seed Nadal brushed aside the challenge of Canadian teenager Shapovalov with a comfortable 6-4 6-1 victory.
Zverev has long been marked out as a future star of the men’s game and his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Thiem suggests the German can be a major threat at the French Open later this month.
The record was set in 1984
Nadal made light work of Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the Barcelona Open final 6-2 6-1 on Sunday, lifting the trophy for a record-extending 11th time.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Tsitsipas, 19, is the second-youngest player in the ATP top 100.
Nadal also extended his winning streak on clay to 44 consecutive sets with a comfortable 6-4 6-0 win over the Belgian on Saturday