Fifth seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan completed a 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7 victory over French duo Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The American twins claimed the victory on their second match point at 1:06am in Rome, after Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori sent the doubles affair deep into the night with a three-hour singles semi-final to open the evening session. The Bryans will appear in their seventh final at the Foro Italico, having lifted the trophy in 2008 (d. Nestor/Zimonjic), 2010 (d. Isner/Querrey) and 2013 (d. Bhupathi/Bopanna). They own a 35-18 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals and will bid for their third tour-level crown overall in 2016 (Houston, Barcelona).

Earlier on Saturday, Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock reached their second Masters 1000 final of the season as they defeated Florin Mergea and Rohan Bopanna 7-6(4), 7-6(2), setting a sixth meeting against the Bryans. They own a 3-2 lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series, most recently taking a quarter-final battle at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

“It was a high-level match today,” said Pospisil. “We executed well and returned well in the tie-breaks and on the big points and that’s what got us through. Overall it was a solid performance in all aspects. We are playing better and gaining confidence with every match. We have one more to go to get the title, so we’ll go out there tomorrow and fight for it.” 

The Canadian/American duo rallied from an early break down in the first set to clinch the opener in a tie-break. They failed to convert match point when serving at 5-3 in the second set, but regrouped to prevail in another tie-break after 85 minutes.

Pospisil and Sock were runners-up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (l. to Herbert/Mahut) in March. The 2014 Wimbledon champions are chasing their fifth tour-level title together and first since Beijing in October 2015.

Andy Murray is through to the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time after dismissing Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-1 on a rainy day in Rome on Saturday.

In Sunday’s final on his 29th birthday, Murray will face either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori, who contest the second semi-final this evening.

“I don’t remember winning any matches, really, on my birthday which isn’t a great sign,” joked Murray. “Hopefully tomorrow that will change.”

Murray has now reached the final of eight of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000s, with Monte-Carlo (where he has reached the semi-finals three times) the only exception. The right-hander will look to lift his 12^th Masters 1000 trophy and first since August 2015, when he won in Montreal (d. Djokovic).

“I think I have made some improvements in my game [in the past year],” said Murray. “Last year I was winning a lot of matches at this time of the year, but I do think I’m playing better tennis this year. I think my serve has been a big improvement for me.

“That’s why in matches like today, Lucas had no opportunities on my serve. I had a few matches like that over the past few weeks, and that hasn’t always been the case.

“To get like a win in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 losing five points on serve is the first time that’s happened in my career, and that’s been the most pleasing thing for me.”

Rain delayed the start of the semi-final action in Rome, with the match beginning at the revised time of shortly after 3pm. Murray made the stronger start, breaking for a 3-1 lead with a forehand winner after chasing down a Pouille drop shot.

A heavy but brief rain shower caused a 13-minute delay with Murray serving at 4-2, 40/0. At the resumption, the Scot swiftly claimed a 5-2 lead. He then broke Pouille for a second time to clinch the opener, converting his third set point as Pouille hit his forehand long.

Murray raced through the second set, breaking Pouille in the fourth and sixth games before claiming victory in 59 minutes.

Speaking in a post-match TV interview, Murray said, “It’s actually the first time ever since I’ve been on tour that I’ve not had chance to hit balls before we got on court. It’s pretty much rained non-stop, then they flipped the schedule around and we were on straightaway when the rain stopped. So I didn’t feel that comfortable coming out on the court. Obviously the break as well at 4-2 was tricky. He made quite a few mistakes and I served well today and made it easier for myself.”

The 28-year-old Murray is through to his fourth ATP World Tour clay-court final. The Scot won his first two titles on the dirt last year in Munich and Madrid. Last week he fell just short of retaining his Madrid crown as he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final at the Caja Magica.

The 22-year-old Pouille has been the luckiest of lucky losers this week. After falling to Mikhail Kukushkin in the final round of qualifying, the Frenchman was granted a main draw berth when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew. He beat Ernests Gulbis and David Ferrer to reach the quarter-finals, where he received a walkover after Juan Monaco withdrew.

World No. 52 Pouille is the first lucky loser to reach the semi-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since Thomas Johansson in Toronto in 2004. His run this week is set to see him rise to a career-high of around No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday.

“Honestly I started pretty well,” said Pouille. “Andy is a great player. He’s returning all your serves. So if you don’t have a great percentage of first serves, then it’s very tough. He’s very offensive, puts pressure on your serves. I did not make that the best match of my life, but I think today he was much better.

“I think it’s a positive week for me. Now it’s time to take some rest. It’s part of the job. I have been playing a lot for the past two months, so I’m a bit tired. I will take some rest and prepare for the French Open.”

SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: When the main draw of the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia was made, one half featured Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the first time ever on the ATP World Tour. Who would emerge from the other half? Lucky loser Lucas Pouille is one win away from following his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and semi-final with a berth in the final.

Pouille is the second lucky loser ever to reach an ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, joining Thomas Johansson in the record books. Johansson earned four main draw wins at Toronto in 2004 before falling to Federer in the semi-finals. Pouille, on the other hand, has beaten only Ernests Gulbis and David Ferrer to reach the Rome semis, capitalizing on a first-round bye when No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew and a quarter-final walkover from Juan Monaco. The luckiest of lucky losers, Pouille fell to Mikhail Kukushkin in the final round of qualifying on May 8.

Madrid finalist Andy Murray did what Pouille couldn’t by beating Kukushkin in the main draw. The World No. 3 has not dropped a set all week and will return to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Pouille is projected to rise to around No. 32, which will be a new career-high for the 22-year-old Frenchman. Should Pouille defeat Murray in their first FedEx ATP Head 2 Head meeting, he will play Djokovic or No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori in the final for the first time as well. The last lucky loser to reach an ATP World Tour final was Marcel Granollers at Valencia in 2010.

Following Murray vs. Pouille, Djokovic and Nishikori meet in an ATP Masters 1000 semi-final for the second time in as many weeks. Djokovic was broken when he served for the match, but held on for a 63 76(4) victory at Madrid on May 7. The World No. 1 is on a seven-match win streak against Nishikori, including a quarter-final victory in Rome last season. Djokovic has also swept 16 straight matches against Top 10 players overall, saving five set points in the second set of his 75 76(4) victory over fifth-ranked Rafael Nadal on Friday.

In the first doubles semi-final, Madrid finalists Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea meet Indian Wells finalists Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock. Then, three-time Rome champions Bob and Mike Bryan take on 2014 Roland Garros champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Kei Nishikori was at his best in a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals of the Internazionale BNL d’Italia on Friday. The sixth seed, who has won all four sets played against the Austrian in two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings (Halle 2015), will face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

“He is a tough opponent,” Nishikori said. “He hits very heavy on both wings. Great backhands. Not many weaknesses.

“It was really a battle of groundstrokes from the baseline. At the moment I’m playing really well. I returned well. I tried to stay because he has a great kick serve.”

Thiem, who upset World No. 2 Roger Federer in the third round, attempted to take over the match with his power. He raced to a 3-1 lead, but saw Nishikori win the next five games to claim the first set. Nishikori had not dropped a set this week in Rome since losing the first set against Viktor Troicki in his opening match.

Nishikori’s lone hiccup in the second set came while serving at 1-2. Down 0/40, the Japanese saved three break points to keep his 22-year-old opponent at bay. A late break proved to be the difference for Nishikori, who converted on his first match point to improve his 2016 clay-court record to 10-2 (29-8 overall). Thiem fired 21 winners in the 98-minute encounter, but made 39 unforced errors to drop to 32-10 on the year (16-5 on clay). Nishikori finished with 18 winners and 14 unforced errors.

“[My leg] is a bit sore but I’ll be okay. I will try to recover well tonight,” said Nishikori.

Djokovic, the top player in the Emirates ATP Rankings, leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Nishikori 8-2. Nishikori’s most recently victory over the Serb came in the 2014 US Open semi-finals.

Losing a big match is always a tough pill to swallow, but there was no bitterness in Rafael Nadal’s words after the Spaniard fell to Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6(4) in the quarter-finals of the Internazionale BNL d’Italia on Friday.  

“I am so happy to be in a close match, and I have to congratulate him. He played great,” Nadal said. “We played a beautiful match. I was a bit unlucky today. I had so many chances in the first set.

“But when somebody is winning as much as him for the past years, it’s so important to [be opportunistic]. He hit great shots in important moments. That’s it.”

Despite the loss, Nadal has re-established himself as one of the best clay-courters in the world. He is 15-2 on the surface in 2016 and took home the title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell.

“I’ve been playing well during the whole clay court season,” Nadal said. “It’s true that in Madrid I didn’t play well in the last two matches [against Joao Sousa and Andy Murray], but in general I’m playing well in most of the matches most of the time. Today I was mentally fighting for every point, hitting good shots. I was very, very, very close this afternoon, and that’s positive.

“I’m not disappointed. I was competing at the highest level against the best player. Playing a match like this gives me confidence,” Nadal, who is now winless against Djokovic in their past seven FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, added. “I’m happy to be part of this rivalry. We’ll talk about this when we finish our career, hopefully a long time from now.

“I feel lucky and unlucky at the same time, to be playing in the same era as [Novak].”