11 May 2013

Nadal, Serena through to Madrid semis

10:11 am on 11 May 2013

Rafael Nadal's overcome a stiff test from fellow Spanish tennis star David Ferrer to reach the Madrid Masters semi-finals, while Scottish third seed Andy Murray's bowed out at the racket of sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych.

World number five Nadal pulled off a roller-coaster 4-6 7-6 6-0 win over world number four Ferrer while Berdych accounted for Murray 7-6 6-4.

Nadal plays an all-Spanish semi against countryman Pablo Andujar, who eased past Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3 7-5 - the man who eliminated the defending champion Roger Federer.

Berdych, chasing a first title of the year, will next play seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or 15th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in Monday's final.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova remain on course for a mouth-watering title showdown in the women's draw.

Williams and Sharapova are set to battle it out for the world number one slot in the final as they progressed into the last four with wins over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Kaia Kanepi respectively.

However, current number one Williams was given a huge scare by 30-year-old wildcard Garrigues before battling through 6-3 0-6 7-5. The American great will meet seventh-seed Sara Errani next, who ended Ekaterina Makarova's fine tournament, 6-4 6-3.

There were far fewer problems for Sharapova as she continued her run of not losing a set so far in the Spanish capital with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win over world number 51 Kanepi.

Sharapova goes on to face Ana Ivanovic for a place in the final, who beat sixth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-1.