Canadian Milos Raonic lost 6-3, 6-4 to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Friday.Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will meet again in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open on Saturday, a rematch of last year's final won by the British player.
The winner will face either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori, who also won on Friday.
The second-ranked Murray defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2 to make it to the semis for the second consecutive Masters tournament on clay, while Nadal had to fight hard to get past Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
Top-ranked Djokovic beat Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-4 to reach his fifth semi-final of the year, and sixth-ranked Nishikori edged Nick Kyrgios 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 6-3 in a thriller that lasted 2 1/2 hours. Coming off a final loss to Nadal in Barcelona, Nishikori overcame 18 aces by Kyrgios, getting his lone break to go up 3-1 in the decisive set.
Djokovic got past the 10th-ranked Raonic to win his 31st match of the year in a rematch of the final in Indian Wells, where Djokovic also won. The Serb has won 13 straight matches against top-10 players, winning 29 of 30 sets during that run.
"It was a long match," Djokovic said. "It could have gone a different direction if I had lost the serve on that last game. But you know, that's what happens when you play somebody like Milos, one of the best servers in the game. It's very difficult to play against him, you are constantly under pressure."
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, celebrating her 27th birthday, reached the women's final by beating American qualifier Louisa Chirico 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour. She will play Simona Halep, who defeated Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-0 in the other semi-final. Halep, the 2014 finalist in Madrid, was the only seeded player to make it to the semis.
Murray had to play under a closed roof at the "Magic Box" centre court because of rain.
Seeking his third title of the season, as many as he won in 2015, Nadal picked up the pace again in the final set to close out the match in just over two hours.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was among those watching Nadal play.
Nadal has won four of the past five matches against Murray.
"This year is completely different to the previous years," Nadal said. "I have different feelings. Murray played really well today and has been during the whole week. It's going to be a very tough match. I have to give my best if I want to have options. I cannot think of last year. Of course I hope that I don't repeat what happened last year."
Murray defeated Nadal in straight sets in Madrid in 2015 to win his first Masters title on clay, but Murray lost to Nadal in the Monte Carlo semi-finals last month.
Murray, who has won six of his past seven matches on clay, needs to win the title this weekend to avoid being overtaken by Roger Federer in the rankings.