Murray, Nadal progress to Madrid Open semis

Britain number one Andy Murray cruised into the Madrid Open semifinal after battling past his Canadian opponent Milos Raonic in straight sets.

The world number three overcame Raonic 6-4, 7-5 and will next face Japan's Kei Nishikori, who claimed a 6-4, 6-2 win over David Ferrer, in the first semifinal.

The Canadian's performance was hampered thorough out on account of a trapped nerve in his right foot.

Reflecting on his performance, Murray said that he didn't know Raonic was injured before they came out, adding that he saw his Canadian opponent struggling early on.

Murray said that Raonic was still serving at 230km/h an hour, insisting that he had been thankfully getting in a high percentage of his first serves and was able to get Raonic moving around the court, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, Spain's Rafael Nadal remained on course for a third successive Madrid title after trouncing Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard will next face Tomas Berdych in the other semifinal.