Nadal to take on Murray in Monte Carlo semis

Murray,the fourth seed,defeated Italian Fabio Fognini,having held a one-set lead overnight,and then came back in the evening to end the challenge of Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7/1),6-4.

“It was a long day,” said the Scot. “I’m rather looking forward to getting to my bed. It was a long first set (77 minutes),but I played a good tiebreaker and I came back from 4-1 down in the second.”

Four-time champion Nadal,bidding for a fifth consecutive trophy at the Country Club finished off Ecuador’s Lapentti 6-3,6-0. In late afternoon,he drove home a 6-3,6-3 victory over Ljubicic.

“It was a tough day but (I got) two good wins without losing a set,” said the winner of the last four French Opens. “That is good news,the best news is I’m in the semi-finals. I’m very happy for that.”

“I played less than three hours,that’s always important. The first match was not long and I was totally a hundred per cent in the second.”

Murray has never gone this far on clay and has never won three matches in a row on the surface.

In Saturday’s other semi-final,world number three Novak Djokovic will line up against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka who put out Roger Federer in the third round.

Djokovic,under pressure from Murray in the world rankings,advanced over Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 6-2,4-6,6-3.

“The courts were really wet,even today you could feel it,” said the Serbian. “The balls were getting bald and really fast. It was tough to control,but overall I played really well.

“Today was a really good test,a really good match for me. I hung in there and just waited for my chances.” Wawrinka,the number 13 seed,beat German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-2,6-4 and will be aiming for revenge against Djokovic after losing to the Serb three times in 2008.

Their last meeting came in the final of Rome 11 months ago,Wawrinka’s finest week on court.

“When I came to that final,I already thought my tournament was successful and I didn’t believe in my ability to beat him,” said Wawrinka.

“This is one year later,and everything is different. I have more confidence in myself,and I’ll try my best to win.”