Rafael Nadal struggles into Rome Masters semi-finals

Spain's Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal continued his clay domination yesterday, rallying from a set down to reach the Rome Masters semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini. The World No. 2 needs to lift an eighth career title tomorrow to return to the top of the rankings after losing that position to Roger Federer last week.

Nadal dropped the opening set but re-grouped effortlessly as he swept past the Italian in the one-sided second and third sets of their quarter-final tie. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova fired a French Open warning with an epic 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-5 over Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach semis.

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