Nadal was at risk of losing the top spot to Novak Djokovic
if he failed to reach the semifinals of this clay-court tournament, which the
Spaniard has won for five of the last six years.
Nadal played much sharper than in his previous two matches
when he was affected by a virus. His semifinal opponent will be 16th-seeded
Richard Gasquet, who rallied to beat seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
a day after eliminating Roger Federer.
Nadal didn't face any break points on another perfectly
clear day at the Foro Italico.
“Yesterday all afternoon I had a fever but at the end of the
day I started to feel better,” Nadal said. “I started the match with (more)
intensity and I was able to move faster and play more with my legs.” In the
other half of the draw, Andy Murray overcame a slow start to beat German
opponent Florian Mayer 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 and become the first British man to reach
the Rome semifinals since 1932.
The fourth-ranked Murray also showed good clay-court form in
Monte Carlo last month, taking a set off Nadal in the semifinals.
“If I want to get to No. 1 in the world then you need to play
well on all of the surfaces because Roger, Rafa and Novak - they all play well
on all the courts,” Murray said. “I need to improve my game on the surface and
it's been better this year.” The last British man to reach the semifinals at
this event was George Patrick Hughes in 1932, while the last British player to
win the title was Virginia Wade in 1971.
Hughes was the only British man to win the tournament in
1931.
“When we walk to the practice court they have a list of all
of the winners down the wall and there is a lot of great players,” Murray said.
“It is nice and I want to try and go further.” Murray's semifinal opponent will
be either Djokovic or Robin Soderling, who were playing in a night match.
Djokovic is on a 36-match winning streak and is undefeated
this year.
This tournament is an important warm-up for the French Open,
which starts in nine days.
