• Rome Masters

Nadal beats Cilic to remain world No. 1

Rafael Nadal's movement was impressive against Marin Cilic © Getty Images

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Rome Masters Seedings
Fitful Murray battles past Mayer

Rafael Nadal ensured he will be the No. 1 seed at the French Open with a 6-1 6-3 win over Marin Cilic in the quarter finals of the Rome Masters.

Nadal has Novak Djokovic breathing down his neck for the world No. 1 spot, but reaching the last four in Rome would guarantee him the top ranking on Monday - which is when the seedings for Paris will be decided.

The Spaniard has struggled with a virus this week and looked under the weather during his win over Feliciano Lopez on Thursday. He again did not look 100% against Cilic, but his hitting was the best it had been all week and it proved too much for his opponent.

Cilic made a positive start with some booming forehand hitting, but Nadal held in the first game.

Nadal worked a couple of break points in the second game and a glorious hooked forehand down the line for a winner sealed the break.

A second break came Nadal's way in the fourth game, as Cilic threw a forehand wide as he sought out the lines in a bid to counter the threat of the world No. 1.

Cilic avoided the embarrassment of a bagel when taking the sixth game, but it did not stem the tide as Nadal raced through the opening set in 38 minutes.

Cilic put up a better showing in the second set, but he came under pressure in the fifth game when Nadal worked a break point with a lob most players would not have reached let alone play a winner, but Cilic's serve dug him out of trouble and he held with an ace.

The pressure continued in the seventh game and Nadal broke through the Croatian's serve with some excellent length from the back of the court.

Nadal's serve had been solid throughout the contest and he held to lead 5-3, before clinching victory on his opponent's serve when Cilic pulled a forehand wide.

Nadal will now play Richard Gasquet, who beat Tomas Berdych 4-6 6-2 6-4.

In the evening match, Novak Djokovic earned a semi-final with Andy Murray by overcoming Robin Soderling 6-3 6-0. The Serb has now won 35 matches at the start of 2011.

Soderling threatened an upset when he broke Djokovic in the first game of the match but, after a tight opening to the match, Djokovic began to pull away from his opponent, a two-time French Open finalist.

Djokovic simply demolished the Soderling second serve in the final set, winning all of the ten points contested.

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