ROME: Rafael Nadal will keep the No. 1 ranking for at least another three weeks following an efficient 6-1, 6-3 win over Croatia's Marin Cilic in the Italian Open quarterfinals Friday. 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. In women's action, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki overcame two-time Rome champion Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 and will next face seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova, who advanced when Victoria Azarenka retired with an apparent right arm injury. The third-seeded Azarenka won the first set 6-4, then called a trainer out to the court for treatment after losing the first game of the second set. She winced and bent over in pain during the next two games, then retired. Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China beat Greta Arn of Hungary 6-3, 6-1 and will face sixth-seeded Sam Stosur for a spot in the final. Stosur got a measure of revenge on Francesca Schiavone by beating the Italian 6-2, 6-4 in a rematch of last year's Roland Garros final. Stosur never dropped her serve and faced only one break point. The crowd of 10,500 cheered loudly each time Schiavone held serve but Stosur's play kept the fans from becoming too much of a factor. The fourth-ranked Murray also showed good clay-court form in Monte Carlo last month, taking a set off Nadal in the semifinals. 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. Murray's semifinal opponent will be either Djokovic or Robin Soderling, who were playing in a night match. This tournament is an important warmup for the French Open, which starts in nine days.
