Djokovic outlasts Nishikori to book Nadal semifinal in Rome

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Italian Open quarterfinal

Rome, May 19: Novak Djokovic set up a semi-final showdown with Rafael Nadal at the Internazionali d'Italia after coming from a set down to beat Kei Nishikori.

The Serbian came out on top in an absorbing clash on Friday, stretching his winning streak over Nishikori to 13 matches to reach the last four of a tournament for the first time in 2018.

The 2-6 6-1 6-3 result books a 51st career meeting with top seed Nadal, who was also taken the distance in his quarter-final clash with home favourite Fabio Fognini in Rome.

Djokovic leads the head-to-head 26-24, though clay-court king Nadal has triumphed in 15 of their 22 previous duels on his favoured surface.

Still, the performance against Nishikori offered further encouragement for the former world number one after a difficult season so far that has seen him struggle for both form and fitness.

He endured a slow start to the delayed quarter-final in the Italian capital too, losing his opening service game in a one-sided first set that lasted 37 minutes.

However, Djokovic responded to the setback by racing out to a 4-0 lead in the second. Even though he was broken to end the streak, he hit back immediately with a break of his own before wrapping up the set with a sensational forehand winner.

Nishikori gifted his rival an early advantage in the decider when slamming an overhead smash straight into the net, yet recovered to get back on serve as he moved 3-2 in front.

However, Djokovic was not to be denied in what was a frenetic encounter, producing some sublime tennis when it mattered to take the final four games on the spin.

Zverev, Cilic also in

Later, Alexander Zverev continued his winning streak, battling past David Goffin. Zverev stretched his winning streak to 12 matches with a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Goffin in their last-eight clash in Rome.

The German saw his run of 23 consecutive sets won ended, and he appeared set for a quarter-final exit when Goffin broke in the fifth game of the decider.

But it was all Zverev from then on, the defending champion winning 13 of the final 15 points to progress with Roma great Francesco Totti watching on.

Marin Cilic is next up for Zverev, the fourth seed having eased into the last four with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.

Halep sets up Sharapova clash

In the women's singles, Simona Halep reached the semi-finals with a comfortable win over Caroline Garcia.

The world number one eased to a 6-2, 6-3 triumph to set up a clash with Maria Sharapova, who came through a marathon encounter with Jelena Ostapenko to progress to the last four.

Halep easily wrapped up a straight-sets win that - along with Caroline Wozniacki's defeat against Anett Kontaveit - guarantees she will remain at the top of the rankings.

Having benefited from Madison Keys' withdrawal in the last round, the Romanian looked decidedly rusty as neither player held serve in the opening five games.

Eventually, however, Halep seized control. She reeled off three successive games to take the first set as Garcia's error-strewn performance made life easy for last year's beaten finalist in Rome.

Mistakes continued to plague the Frenchwoman in the second, although she did delay the inevitable by gaining a break back to make it 5-3, as Halep wrapped up victory with a backhand winner down the line.

Sharapova reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2015 after outlasting reigning French Open champion Ostapenko in a thriller.

The unseeded Russian eventually prevailed 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5 after three hours and 11 minutes on court, making it the longest match played on clay this season.

"It's always nice to have a battle with a few ups and downs, and to finish strong," Sharapova told the media, according to the WTA Tour. "To get through a match like this against a really high-quality opponent and to end up winning it, I'm quite proud of the effort."

Both players had their service issues - they combined for 21 double faults - and while Ostapenko fought back from 5-2 down to draw level in the decider, Sharapova finished strongly to seal her first win over a top-10 player in 2018.

Source: OPTA