A dominant Rafael Nadal broke down Richard Gasquet's resolve to ease into the Rome Masters final with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the 16th seed here on Saturday.
Taking an 8-0 record against Gasquet into this match, the World No. 1 survived some nervous moments in the first set before completing a comprehensive win.
It took the Spanish 24-year-old's record at this tournament to 31 wins and just one loss — in 2008 to Juan-Carlos Ferrero — as he aims for a sixth title in seven years here.
Having suffered from fever earlier in the week, Nadal showed no ill-effects from it on Saturday.
The undisputed ‘King of Clay' has won two tournaments on the dirt this season, but last week suffered his first defeat on the surface to Novak Djokovic in the Madrid final.
It was the third Masters final he had lost to the Serbian this season following those in Indian Wells and Miami.
Stosur meets Sharapova
Australian Samantha Stosur stormed into the women's final with a 7-6(6), 6-0 victory over China's Li Na.
She will play former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in Sunday's final after the Russian beat World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3.
This will be Stosur's first final since Roland Garros almost a year ago.
Looking ahead to the final, Sharapova said: “It's the first time I'm playing (Stosur) on clay and her best results have been on clay.”
“She's playing really good tennis, clay really suits her game but it's a great feeling to be in the final of this event, I'm just going to go out and go for it.
“With every year I feel better and better on it (clay). When I was first on tour I wasn't the strongest, I didn't have the strongest legs and I didn't find it easy to recover from one match to the next but I've improved on that.”
The results :
Men: Semifinals : Rafael Nadal bt Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-1. Quarterfinals : Novak Djokovic bt Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-0.
Women: Semifinals : Maria Sharapova bt Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3; Samantha Stosur bt Li Na 7-6(6), 6-0. Quarterfinals : Maria Sharapova bt Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 3-0 retd.
