The top seed Rafael Nadal has overcome fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Masters tennis tournament in Rome.
Nadal now faces the 12th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who beat the Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco 2-6 6-3 6-4.
The other semi-final sees Roger Federer play the holder Novak Djokovic, after the Swiss world number two's 7-6 6-2 victory over the German qualifier Mischa Zverev.
Djokovic, the Serbian world number three, eased into the last four with a 6-3 6-4 win over Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro.
