Murray, Nadal into Madrid Masters semis

Published May 03, 2016

Madrid, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Red-hot Andy Murray and two-time defending and four-time overall champion Rafael Nadal posted quarterfinal victories Friday at the Madrid Open.

The second-seeded Murray got past fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-5 for his seventh straight match win.

Murray is fresh off his title in Munich -- his first-ever clay-court championship.

This year's Australian Open runner-up captured the title here in Madrid in 2008 when the event was staged on hardcourts.

Murray's semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Japanese star Kei Nishikori, who eased past seventh-seeded Spanish favorite David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 in Friday's nightcap.

Murray is 3-1 versus Nishikori, but the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up from Japan captured their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Finals in London last year.

Meanwhile, the third-seeded former world No. 1 Spanish hero Nadal cruised past 10th-seeded Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4 on the red clay at The Magic Box.

The six-time Madrid finalist Nadal improved to 6-0 lifetime against the 23- year-old Dimitrov.

"Overall I'm satisfied; I'm happy," said Nadal. "I have made it to the semifinals, and I think that's a great result for me, especially after losing in Barcelona the way I did.

"My goal is [to] feel myself playing better every day. That's my real goal. Then obviously, the goal is always the same, [to] try to have the [best] result possible."

The nine-time French Open king captured a second straight Madrid title last year by beating Nishikori in the final of this Masters 1000 tournament.

Up next for the record 27-time Masters champ will be sixth-seeded Czech and 2012 Madrid runner-up Tomas Berdych, who outlasted 16th-seeded American John Isner 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-1) in 2 hours, 9 minutes.

Berdych topped Isner despite failing to break serve on Day 6. The American tallied the only break of the match in the opening set.

The 6-foot-10 Isner launched 29 aces in a losing effort.

Nadal is 18-4 lifetime against Berdych, including a victory in the 2010 Wimbledon final and in a pair of Madrid quarterfinals, in 2006 and last year. Berdych, however, captured their last meeting in the quarters at this year's Australian Open.

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