ROME -- Rafael Nadal will keep the No. 1 ranking for at least another week following an efficient 6-1, 6-3 win over Croatia's Marin Cilic in the Italian Open quarterfinals on Friday.
Nadal was at risk of losing the top spot to Novak Djokovic if he failed to reach the semifinals of this clay-court tournament, which the Spaniard has won for five of the last six years.
Nadal played much sharper than in his previous two matches when he was affected by a virus. His semifinal opponent will be 16th-seeded Richard Gasquet, who rallied to beat seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 a day after eliminating Roger Federer.
Nadal didn't face any break points on another perfectly clear day at the Foro Italico.
"Yesterday all afternoon I had a fever but at the end of the day I started to feel better," Nadal said. "I started the match with (more) intensity and I was able to move faster and play more with my legs."
In the other half of the draw, Andy Murray overcame a slow start to beat German opponent Florian Mayer 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 and become the first British man to reach the Rome semifinals since 1932.
In women's action, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki overcame two-time Rome champion Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 and will next face either third-seeded Victoria Azarenka or seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova.
Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China beat Greta Arn of Hungary 6-3, 6-1 and will face sixth-seeded Sam Stosur for a spot in the final.
Stosur got a measure of revenge on Francesca Schiavone by beating the Italian 6-2, 6-4 in a rematch of last year's Roland Garros final. Stosur never dropped her serve and faced only one break point.
The crowd of 10,500 cheered loudly each time Schiavone held serve but Stosur's play kept the fans from becoming too much of a factor.
The fourth-ranked Murray also showed good clay-court form in Monte Carlo last month, taking a set off Nadal in the semifinals.
"If I want to get to No. 1 in the world then you need to play well on all of the surfaces because Roger, Rafa and Novak - they all play well on all the courts," Murray said. "I need to improve my game on the surface and it's been better this year."
The last British man to reach the semifinals at this event was George Patrick Hughes in 1932, while the last British player to win the title was Virginia Wade in 1971.
Hughes was the only British man to win the tournament in 1931.
"When we walk to the practice court they have a list of all of the winners down the wall and there is a lot of great players," Murray said. "It is nice and I want to try and go further."
Murray's semifinal opponent will be either Djokovic or Robin Soderling, who were playing in a night match.
Djokovic is on a 36-match winning streak and is undefeated this year.
This tournament is an important warmup for the French Open, which starts in nine days.
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