Italian Open champion Rafael Nadal set up a semifinal with Stefanos Tsitsipas thanks to a 6-4 6-0 win over fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco today, while Briton Johanna Konta got through to the last-four for the first time.

A week after losing to the Greek upstart at the same stage of the Madrid Open, the 32-year-old Nadal will be eager to prove that defeat was just a blip as the Spaniard fine-tunes his game ahead of his bid for a 12th Roland Garros title.The 20-year-old Greek progressed after Roger Federer pulled out with a right leg injury before their quarterfinal clash.

Nadal went 2-0 down against Verdasco before surviving three break points at 4-4 in the first set, but the second seed pulled away by winning eight consecutive games to continue his hunt for a ninth title in Rome.

“I was not playing badly at the beginning at all but he was playing unbelievable ,” Nadal said. “No mistakes, a lot of winners, taking the ball early. It was a very difficult first set.”Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman reached the last four with a 6-4 6-2 win over Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori and will face world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or Juan Martin del Potro.