Intro:

Spaniards Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer advanced to the semi finals of the Rio Open on Friday (21 February).

Script:

World number 1 Rafa Nadal is through to the semi finals of the Rio Open, as he cruised past Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-0.

The Spaniard is playing in his first tournament since losing to Stanislav Wawrinka in the Australian Open final back in January.

Despite his recent back problems, Nadal put all his talent on display as he played his best match in Brazil so far.

He will now face fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the semifinal after he beat Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-1.

The second semifinal of the Rio Open will see second seed David Ferrer face up against Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Ferrer overcame home favourite Thomaz Bellucci in three sets.

The Brazilian took the first set 6-4, but was unable to keep up the momentum as he lost the next two sets and the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Dolgopolov cruised past Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1 6-1 to reach the semifinals.

The Ukrainian faces a tough task to reach the final - Ferrer has won 21 ATP singles titles and will be hoping for an all-Spanish final with Rafa Nadal on Sunday.