Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic reach Rome Masters semi-finals

Switzerland's Federer will face the winner of Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday, who beat Rafa Nadal 7-6(7) 6-2 late on Friday.

Nadal, the number four seed, twice earned breaks in a tight first set that lasted 76 minutes but slipped through his fingers in a 16-point tiebreak in which he held a 6-2 advantage.

His trademark forehand again let him down at crucial moments and, as doubts crept in, eighth-seeded Wawrinka took control by winning five of the six second set games that went to deuce.

Federer was broken by Berdych early in the first set, but won four straight games from 3-2 behind to claim the opening set.

He was equally dominant in the second set as he broke again in the seventh game of the second to continue his preparations for the start of French Open a week on Sunday in some style.

Federer - who has overcome Czech player Berdych 14 times in 20 meetings - has yet to win the Rome tournament despite making 15 appearances in the Italian capital.

He lost to Felix Mantilla in 2003, and has twice gone down to 'King of Clay' Nadal at the event in 2006 and 2013.

Djokovic secured his 20th win with the three-set victory over Nishikori which lasted one hour and 48 minutes.

The Serb broke his opponent early in the opener, which was all that required to win the set, but the Japanese fought back well - breaking in the sixth game, to level the match.

But in typical fashion, Djokovic wasn't fazed by Nishikori's fight and went on to blitz his opponent, securing to breaks to finish off the encounter.

Djokovic will now face David Ferrer, who earlier battled into the last four with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Belgium's David Goffin.

Goffin found himself in the quarter-finals after British number one Andy Murray withdrew from the tournament on Thursday citing fatigue after winning his previous two clay court tournaments in Munich and Rome.

Seventh seed Ferrer always looked the likelier figure on his favourite surface despite dropping the second set to Goffin.

The Spanish player broke twice in the first.

He was himself broken twice as Goffin restored parity at 1-1, but Ferrer made a bright start to the deciding set as he eventually progressed in two hours and 10 minutes.

He will face world number one Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori in the last four.