Diego Schwartzman created the biggest shock of the 2020 Rome tournament with a late-night upset win over Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.
Earlier on Saturday, Garbine Muguruza beat the in-form Victoria Azarenka to set up a semifinal against another in-form opponent in Simona Halep, who has won her past 12 matches.
Also progressing were world No.1 Novak Djokovic, defending champion Karolina Pliskova and last year’s French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova.
Schwartzman delivers masterclass
The Argentine belted 31 winners against just 17 errors to notch his first victory in 10 meetings with the King of Clay.
Nadal, the two-time defending champion, was gunning for his 10th title in Rome but was error-prone throughout the two-hour match, during which he was broken five times.
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The Spaniard was on a seven-match winning streak, but in his first tournament since winning Acapulco more than six months ago, his rust showed.
Schwartzman goes on to face Canadian Denis Shapovalov, after the No.12 seed got past Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 3-6 6-2.
A quarterfinalist at the recent US Open, Shapovalov has won eight of his past nine matches.
Muguruza, Halep set up semifinal
After beating Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff and Johanna Konta, Muguruza continued her impressive run in Rome with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over US Open finalist Azarenka, who had won 14 of her last 15 matches.
“I was in the right place when the opportunity came and I took it,” said Muguruza, who is into her third Rome semifinal. “I’m happy I played the right shots and I stood aggressive. I went for the match the whole time. Never felt down.”
It sets up a rematch of her compelling AO 2020 semifinal against Halep, which, incredibly, is the last time Halep lost a match.
The Romanian has since won titles in Dubai (February) and Prague (August) and advanced to the Rome semifinals when opponent Yulia Puntintseva retired with a lower back injury when trailing 6-2 2-0.
Muguruza leads the pair’s head-to-head series 4-2, but has lost her two meetings with Halep on clay.
Djokovic survives, Ruud next
Top seed Djokovic led 6-3 3-1 on Saturday before German qualifier Dominik Koepfer staged an impressive comeback.
Yet Djokovic managed to subdue the lefty after two hours and 10 minutes to advance to the semifinals in Rome, where he is now the prohibitive favourite for a fifth title after Nadal’s exit.
He next faces Norway’s Casper Ruud, who upstaged No.4 seed Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 7-6(5).
Ruud, 21, is featuring in his first ATP Masters semifinal and will be playing Djokovic for the first time.
Vondrousova finding form again
Czech 21-year-old Vondrousova routed fourth seed Elina Svitolina – a two-time champion in Rome – 6-3 6-0 to set up a clash with defending champion Pliskova.
“I think I played an amazing match today. I didn't even expect this," Vondrousova said. "I didn't do so many errors, and I hit so many great drop shots. I also served really well. I think I just played better today.”
Vondrousova, who reached the quarters in Rome last year, takes a step further in 2020 and is appearing in her first semifinal since her unexpected run to last year’s Roland Garros final.
The world No.19 lost her only previous meeting with countrywoman Pliskova, who returned to the Rome semifinals with a 6-3 3-6 6-0 win over Belgian Elise Mertens.