Nadal books semi-final spot at Italian Open after beating Murray in quarter-final clash

World No.1 Rafael Nadal has destroyed Wimbledon champion Andy Murray's chances of attaining a semi-final spot at the Italian Open after beating him in a brilliant three-set thriller on Friday in their quarter-final clash.

Although the British No.1 looked on course for his best-ever result on clay at 4-2 up in the decider, however, the Spaniard, who has won the tournament seven times in the past, hit back to win 1-6 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 40 minutes

According to the BBC, Nadal will now play Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday's semi-finals while the Scot now heads to Paris for the French Open, which gets under way from May 25.

It was the first time the pair had met since Murray's victory in the Japan Open final two-and-a-half years ago, which he finished off with a love set, and the Wimbledon champion picked up where he had left off in Tokyo.

Dimitrov went through when Germany's Tommy Haas retired with a shoulder injury, the report added.