Nadal’s power show blows Wawrinka away

THIRD seed Rafael Nadal made short work of his Rome Masters quarter-final, progressing to the last four with a 6-4 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka – but the tournament lost another star as Novak Djokovic fell to Fernando Verdasco.

Nadal, a four-time champion in the Italian capital, has been untroubled this week after missing last week’s tournament in Barcelona because of worries over his fragile knees.

He breezed past Philipp Kohlschreiber and Victor Hanescu in the previous two rounds and sent Wawrinka the same way yesterday.

The tricky Swiss stuck with his Spanish opponent throughout the first set, looking comfortable on serve as he took Nadal to 4-4.

But as is so often the case, Nadal upped his game when he really needed to, winning his service game for 5-4 before Wawrinka sent a forehand long on break point to hand the first set to his opponent.

Nadal dominated thereafter breaking in game two and again in game six to book a semi-final against either Ernests Gulbis, Federer’s conqueror, or Feliciano Lopez.

Second seed Djokovic followed Federer and Andy Murray out of the tournament as he slipped up 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-4 to Verdasco.

Djokovic fell a break down in the opening set and, although he battled back to level, lost out on a tie-break. He broke three times in the second set to level at 1-1, but in the end Verdasco, champion in Barcelona last week, kept up his good form.

Next up for Verdasco is compatriot David Ferrer, who beat French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-1.