Rafael Nadal is on course to win back-to-back ATP World Tour titles after setting up a semi-final clash with Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Barcelona Open by beating Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-2 7-6 (7/1).
Eight-time tournament winner Nadal, 29, is on an eight-match winning streak after capturing the Monte Carlo Masters last week and made a flying start against 12th seed Fognini.
The Italian, who beat Nadal three times last year including in the third round of the US Open, rallied in the second set and led 5-3 but failed to serve out in the 10th game and Nadal broke back.
Fognin saved three match points to force a tie-break but Nadal was not to be denied.
Kohlschreiber, seeded 10th and who came through a tough three-set battle with Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the previous round, cruised to a 6-3 6-1 win against Russian 16th seed Andrey Kuznetsov.
Earlier in the day, second seed Kei Nishikori boosted his chances of a third straight Barcelona Open title with a 7-5 6-0 win against Alexandr Dolgopolov to set up a semi-final clash with Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Japan's Nishikori saved four set points while serving at 5-4 down in the first set but went on to overpower Ukrainian world number 30 Dolgopolov, winning the next nine games to triumph in 80 minutes.
Nishikori, who extended his winning streak at the tournament to 13 matches, beat Santiago Giraldo in the 2014 final and retained his title last year with victory over Pablo Andujar.
Paire, seeded sixth, reached his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season by fighting back to win 3-6 7-5 6-1 against Tunisian Malek Jaziri.
The 26-year-old broke Jaziri in the 12th game of the second set to level the match and broke the world number 76 twice more in the final set to come through in two hours. P aire has beaten Nishikori in their last two encounters.
Source: PA
