As a professional, it took Andy Murray 10 years to claim his first ATP World Tour title on clay. Now, the No. 3 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings is a force to be reckoned with on the surface, reaching the semi-finals of the past three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, all on red clay (Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome).

“I think I’m getting rewarded now for the work that I put in over the years on this surface,” said Murray, who downed David Goffin 6-1, 7-5 to move into the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. “Obviously took me time to feel comfortable on it. But I didn’t sort of just give up on clay and say, ‘You know what? This isn’t my surface. I’m not going to prepare for it properly or train hard.’”

From an early age, the Glasgow native has worked hard to address his weakness. He spent his formative years training on clay in Spain and developed a game predicated on being able to find solutions against any opponent, in any condition. That flexibility paid off on Friday.

“It was very, very difficult conditions, very windy. [The wind] was changing direction all the time. There was obviously a lot of the clay getting blown off the court, as well,” Murray noted. “It’s not always that easy to move when it’s like that because it’s changing every point. Sometimes, there’s no clay on the court at all and it’s like a hard court. So it is very tough.

“But I have had good results in the wind, so I can’t complain when it’s like that because I have won matches in those conditions. But it’s not easy to play in.”

The red-hot Goffin, who scored a stunning 6-0, 6-0 against Tomas Berdych in the previous round, had the wind to his back and broke Murray’s serve in the opening game of the match, but the Brit rebounded strongly, reeling off six consecutive games to secure the first set.

“I knew that he must have been playing well coming into the match, and I went in expecting it to be very tough. He got off to the best possible start. But it was very hard from that end of the court. You’re playing right into the wind,” Murray said, “But the most pleasing thing about the match today was each time I got broken, I broke back right away, so I never allowed him to get any momentum.”

In the semi-finals, Murray will face lucky loser Lucas Pouille, who advanced to the final four without striking a ball after Juan Monaco withdrew.

“I didn’t necessarily expect to be doing as well as I have been the last couple of years, but I deserve it because I have worked hard for it,” said Murray, who reached the final of the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Djokovic) last week and the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Nadal) in April. “I haven’t been in this position in these tournaments very often. Even in Monte-Carlo, I think I had only been to the semis once before this year. They are great tournaments with a lot of history.

“To get the chance to play in the final here would be really nice. They have an unbelievable crowd. When you get out there, it’s quite different. It’s quite a steep court, and it’s a nice atmosphere out there.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic edged Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6(4) in a thrilling quarter-final clash on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

In their closest contest for almost two years, in which the Serb saved five set points when Nadal served for the second set at 5-4, Djokovic rallied from a break down in both sets to thwart Nadal in two hours and 25 minutes. It marked the Serb’s seventh straight win over Nadal and saw him improve to a 26-23 advantage in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He has won 15 straight sets against Nadal since the Spaniard prevailed in their 2014 Roland Garros final contest.

“I held my nerve at the clutch moments,” said Djokovic in an on-court TV interview. “Even though I had nervy beginnings to both sets, with some good games and good play in the crucial moments, I managed to win. It’s a straight-sets win, but it feels like we played five sets.

“Winning against Nadal is the ultimate challenge on clay courts and one of the toughest challenges we have in sport. I have to be very pleased with the way I handled myself in the big moments today. I won against one of my biggest rivals on his preferred surface. We must not forget he’s in form. He won Monte-Carlo and Barcelona and has played well the past couple of weeks. That gives me confidence for the rest of this tournament.”

In pursuit of his 30^th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, Djokovic now goes on to face either Kei Nishikori or Dominic Thiem in Saturday’s semi-finals at the Foro Italico.

The Serb had a slow start against Thomaz Bellucci in the third round, and struggled to match Nadal’s energy and intensity in the opening exchanges of their 49th tour-level meeting. But Djokovic worked his way into the match, raising his level as the set went on.

Nadal drew first blood with a break to lead 3-2 as Djokovic netted a forehand. But the Belgrade native fired himself up after prevailing in an 11-minute, six-second game to hold serve in the seventh game and stay in touch. Djokovic then levelled in the eighth game, converting his third break point as Nadal miss-fired on a forehand.

In a pulsating 12th game, Djokovic kept the pressure on Nadal and was rewarded on his fourth set point. The Serb hung in the rally with strong defence, before being drawn into the net by a Nadal drop shot and exhibiting superb reflexes to poke away a high forehand volley, stealing the set from the Spaniard.

Nadal again started the stronger of the two in the second set, engineering a 3-1 lead as Djokovic’s frustrations crept to the surface. But at the crunch moment in the set, it was Djokovic who found his best tennis. Nadal served to level the match at 5-4, but failed to convert five set points. Djokovic then took his first break point, attacking Nadal with his backhand to force the error and level at 5-5.

In the ensuing tie-break, Nadal was always behind and despite twice rallying from a mini-break deficit, he couldn’t stop Djokovic sealing victory on his first match point at 6-4.

“I was fortunate in important moments,” said Djokovic. “But I managed to take him out of his comfort zone in important moments and didn’t give him always the same look. I thought he played high quality tennis. He tried to step in. He was trying to play aggressive. But towards the end, I guess I was a bit more fortunate.”

Between them, Nadal and Djokovic have accounted for the past 11 editions of this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Nadal has lifted the trophy seven times, with Djokovic winning the title in the past two years to add to his victories in 2008 and 2011.

Djokovic came into Rome on the back of winning his 64^th tour-level title in Madrid, where he defeated defending champion Andy Murray in the final. The right-hander is chasing his sixth title of the season, having also triumphed in Doha (d. Nadal), at the Australian Open (d. Murray) and in Indian Wells (d. Raonic) and Miami (d. Nishikori).

DAY 6 PREVIEW: The quarter-finals on Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia are headlined by three of the Big Four: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic and Nadal meet for the 49th time, the most in the Open Era. They have combined to win the last 11titles in Rome.

In the second match on, No. 12 seed David Goffin looks for his first win (0-3) against Murray, who is appearing in the Rome quarter-finals for the third time in the last six years. Goffin is coming off a 60 60 win over No. 8 Tomas Berdych on Thursday, his third career Top 10 win (3-26). The 25-year-old Belgian is back in the quarter-finals for the second straight year. Murray, who is 26-3 on clay in 2015-16, will return to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. He is trying to reach the semi-finals here for the first time since 2011.                                       

In the highly-anticipated third match on, four-time Rome champion Djokovic brings a 25-23 head-to-head record (6-14 on clay) against seven-time Rome winner Nadal. Djokovic has won the last six meetings and 13 sets (10 of last 11 matches, 22-4 sets). Nadal’s last win came in the final of 2014 Roland Garros. This is their sixth meeting in Rome (Nadal leads 3-2) and earliest meeting here since the quarter-finals in 2007. Djokovic, who has won 15 straight matches against Top 10 opponents (33-2 in sets), is the all-time leader with 29 career ATP Masters 1000 titles followed by Nadal with 28. Djokovic is appearing in the quarter-finals or better here for the 10^th consecutive year. He’s won his last 12 matches in Rome and is 35-2 on the season. Nadal leads the ATP World Tour this year with an 19-3 clay court record, winning 15 of his past 16 matches. This is the Spaniard’s 11^th quarter-finals in Rome in 12 appearances. He is 9-1 in quarter-final matches here.

In the evening session, No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem and No. 6 Kei Nishikori meet for the second time. Nishikori won the previous meeting 76 75 in the first round of Halle last June.  The 22-year-old Thiem, who is the second-youngest player in the Top 20 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 15, is appearing in his second career ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals (2015 Miami). He is the first Austrian to reach the quarter-finals in Rome since Thomas Muster won the title in 1996. He comes in with a 32-9 match record on the season (16-4 on clay), the second-most match wins behind Djokovic (35). Nishikori is appearing in the quarter-finals for the second straight year and this is the Japanese star’s fourth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in five tournaments this season.

On Grandstand, French lucky loser Lucas Pouille squares off with Argentine Juan Monaco for the third time (tied 1-1). Pouille, who is 12-4 in his last five tournaments after a 2-5 start, is the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals in Rome since Alberto Martin in 2005. Pouille, appearing in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, will crack the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time next week around No. 37. Monaco is coming off a three-set win over World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, his highest ranked win since 2010 Valencia (d. No. 4 Murray). Monaco, who is ranked No. 114, is appearing in the quarter-finals here for the first time since 2009. He is trying to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since 2012 Miami.

In an early candidate for shot of the year, Blaz Rola produced a stunning behind-the-back winner during his second-round match on Thursday against Nikoloz Basilashvili at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Heilbronn, Germany.

Serving at 1-2 in the second set, a strong backhand from Basilashvili left Rola flicking his racquet behind his back in desperation. His shot landed just over the net, producing an improbable drop shot winner that left the crowd laughing in approval.

“It’s something that me and my coach have been working on for a couple of weeks,” Rola joked. “Nothing was really going through my mind because the ball was coming in so fast. I just wanted to make contact and this was the only way. It was a great shot, but too bad it didn’t win me the match.”

Rola narrowly lost the match to Basilashvili, 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(5). Basilashvili will next play the winner of the match between Carlos Berlocq and Jozef Kovalik.