World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and former top- ranked star Roger Federer were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the $2.78 million Madrid Masters -- the eighth of nine Masters Series events this year.
The reigning Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal got past fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-4 on Day 6 here.
The 2005 Madrid titlist Nadal can clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking with a trip into the final this weekend. Federer has finished atop the ATP rankings the last four years.
Nadal's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be unseeded Frenchman Gilles Simon.
The second-seeded Federer dropped ninth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-3 on the indoor hardcourt here. Del Potro fired 12 aces at Federer, including 11 in the opening set, but the super Swiss neutralized the tall South American with a slice serve on the fast surface at Madrid Arena.
"The slice goes nicely on this court," Federer said. "I felt good using it to counter Juan Martin's height."
The Swiss great extended his current winning streak to 11 matches. The 20- year-old Del Potro has been one of the hottest players on tour over the past few months.
The 13-time major champion Federer was last year's Madrid runner-up to Argentine David Nalbandian and captured this tournament in 2006.
On Thursday, Federer became the all-time prize money leader on the ATP, surpassing Pete Sampras with more than $43.317 million in career earnings.
Federer's semifinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Brit Andy Murray, who lost to Federer in last month's U.S. Open final. Murray mauled French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils, a runner-up in Vienna last week, 6-2, 6-2 on Friday. "I'll have to come with a proper game plan," Federer said. "He played well against Monfils, so I'll have my hands full with him."
After reading Federer's quotes we could tell that This game should be very interesting.
The aforementioned Simon won Friday's nightcap by ousting 14th-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-6 (7-2). Karlovic lost despite uncorking 27 aces in a 2-hour, 13-minute setback.
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