World No.1 Rafael Nadal dug deep to maintain his chances of defending his Rome Masters tennis title with a gutsy come-from-behind 1-6 6-3 7-5 win over Andy Murray on Friday in the quarter-finals.
Murray had won only five of his past 18 matches against Nadal but held the bragging rights from their most-recent two – a walkover win in the Miami Masters semis and victory in the Tokyo Open final in 2011 – both hardcourt events.
Despite form doubts lingering following a long absence due to back surgery early in the year, Murray produced a stunning performance at the Foro Italico to underline his form ahead of the French Open later this month.
The Scot won the opening set 6-1, leaving claycourt king Nadal to tinker with tactics in the second set in a bid to pull level.
In a much tighter third set, Nadal maintained his momentum by winning three breaks to two for Murray.
The Spaniard broke in the first game, only for Murray to break back immediately in a second game in which the Scot pull off a stunning pull-back shot which stunned Nadal and had the crowd in raptures.
That gave Murray some momentum and the British No.1 held serve to go 2-1 in front.
Both players held serve in the next two games and, with the score at 3-2, Murray raced to triple break point to break again and take a two-game lead after Nadal netted a return from a powerful serve.
Sensing defeat, the Spaniard upped his game and broke back to level at 4-4. Both players held serve over the next two games, but Nadal made the difference when he raced to triple break point in the 11th game before converting for a third time in the set for a 6-5 lead and then serving out for the win.
Nadal will meet Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the semis on Saturday, when No.2 seed Novak Djokovic faces Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Djokovic ousted David Ferrer 7-5 4-6 6-3 while Raonic claimed his last-four spot with a 6-3 5-7 6-2 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Italy’s tenth seed Sara Errani stunned China’s world No.2 Li Na 6-3 4-6 6-2 to make the semis for the second consecutive year.
She is on course to become the first Italian woman since Raffaella Reggi 29 years ago to win the tournament and next meets Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic after she upset Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the third seed, 6-4 6-4.
Errani and Jankovic were joined in the last four by Ana Ivanovic, although the Serbian 11th seed had to dig deep throughout a thrilling encounter with Carla Suarez Navarro before finally beating the Spanish 13th seed 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Ivanovic will next meet Serena Williams who has annihilated unseeded Chinese player Zhang Shuai 6-1 6-3.