<p class="title">Defending champion Rafael Nadal swept past Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his 50th Masters final and first on clay this season at the Italian Open on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The eight-time Rome winner had been stunned by Tsitsipas, seeded eighth, in the semi-finals at the Madrid Open last weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the 32-year-old Spaniard was clinical on the red clay of the Foro Italico, winning through in 1hr 42min to reach the final for the 11th time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's an important victory for me," said Nadal. "I played a solid match against a good player who is winning a lot of matches on this surface. Last week I didn't play very well in Madrid. Today I did better."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal, seeded second, was playing his fourth straight semi-final, but had not managed to go further on clay this season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But he has not dropped a set so far this week and next plays either world number one Novak Djokovic or Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who meet in the second semi-final.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal's run to the Rome final comes just a week before he starts his assault on a 12th French Open title at Roland Garros.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The feeling is that I am playing better every week, every day. That's important for me," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's not a drama to lose in semi-finals. The main thing is to recover my level.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I say in Madrid I was playing better, then I played a bad match in the semi-finals, true.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But my feeling, especially after my loss against (Dominic) Thiem in the semi-finals of Barcelona, I think my personal feeling improved and my energy came back a little bit."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've been through some tough moments after Indian Wells. Recovery of the knee again... was not easy to come back and to prepare myself the right way."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tsitsipas, meanwhile, was at a loss to explain his performance as he fell to his fourth defeat in five matches against the Spaniard.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm the same person as I was last week. Nothing changed," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He (Nadal) is in good shape. I think I learned a lot these three weeks. It's good to come into a Grand Slam knowing what you've done well."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain's Johanna Konta fought back from a set down to seal victory on her fourth match point against Kiki Bertens to reach the WTA final.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Konta, ranked 42, came through 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 against sixth seed Bertens, winner of the Madrid Open last week, after almost three hours on the red clay of Rome.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dutchwoman Bertens had advanced to the semi-finals after world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan retired with a hand injury before their match Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Konta next meets Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova who eased past Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-4 in 88 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pliskova and Sakkari last met in the second round at the Foro Italico in 2018 when the Czech, furious at a line call, smashed a hole in the umpire's chair after losing in three sets.</p>
<p class="title">Defending champion Rafael Nadal swept past Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his 50th Masters final and first on clay this season at the Italian Open on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The eight-time Rome winner had been stunned by Tsitsipas, seeded eighth, in the semi-finals at the Madrid Open last weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the 32-year-old Spaniard was clinical on the red clay of the Foro Italico, winning through in 1hr 42min to reach the final for the 11th time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's an important victory for me," said Nadal. "I played a solid match against a good player who is winning a lot of matches on this surface. Last week I didn't play very well in Madrid. Today I did better."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal, seeded second, was playing his fourth straight semi-final, but had not managed to go further on clay this season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But he has not dropped a set so far this week and next plays either world number one Novak Djokovic or Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who meet in the second semi-final.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal's run to the Rome final comes just a week before he starts his assault on a 12th French Open title at Roland Garros.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The feeling is that I am playing better every week, every day. That's important for me," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's not a drama to lose in semi-finals. The main thing is to recover my level.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I say in Madrid I was playing better, then I played a bad match in the semi-finals, true.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But my feeling, especially after my loss against (Dominic) Thiem in the semi-finals of Barcelona, I think my personal feeling improved and my energy came back a little bit."</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've been through some tough moments after Indian Wells. Recovery of the knee again... was not easy to come back and to prepare myself the right way."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tsitsipas, meanwhile, was at a loss to explain his performance as he fell to his fourth defeat in five matches against the Spaniard.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm the same person as I was last week. Nothing changed," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"He (Nadal) is in good shape. I think I learned a lot these three weeks. It's good to come into a Grand Slam knowing what you've done well."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Britain's Johanna Konta fought back from a set down to seal victory on her fourth match point against Kiki Bertens to reach the WTA final.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Konta, ranked 42, came through 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 against sixth seed Bertens, winner of the Madrid Open last week, after almost three hours on the red clay of Rome.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dutchwoman Bertens had advanced to the semi-finals after world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan retired with a hand injury before their match Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Konta next meets Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova who eased past Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-4 in 88 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pliskova and Sakkari last met in the second round at the Foro Italico in 2018 when the Czech, furious at a line call, smashed a hole in the umpire's chair after losing in three sets.</p>