Intro:

Third seed Rafael Nadal cruised through to the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Script:

Home favourite Rafael Nadal is one match win away from reaching the Madrid Masters final for the seventh time, following a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Grigor Dimitrov on Friday.

Despite a strong start which saw Dimitrov break his opponent to love in the fourth game, Nadal gathered pace as the match progressed and closed out the opening set 6-3 on his third set point.

Dimitrov played more aggressively in the second set, narrowing down Nadal's angles and breaking for a 2-1 lead.

But once again, the Spanish third seed came back with a powerful response, punishing any short balls and forcing Dimitrov back on the defensive.

With control of the match restored, Nadal converted his second match-point chance to win 6-3, 6-4 and claim his place in the semi-finals, where he will face Tomas Berdych.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Nadal:

"I played well today, I think. I played at the right level so I am very happy for that, much better than I was doing for the last two weeks, last week and two weeks ago in Barcelona, and much better than the first day here, so that's great news for me. The first great news is being in the semi-finals, it's a very positive result for me, confidence, good energy because when you are working hard and fighting for goals, it's great when you see those goals arriving."