Daniil Medvedev brushed Yannick Hanfmann aside in straight sets and will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Italian Open semi-final.
The Russian, 27, had not won a match in Rome before this year but eased past Germany’s Hanfmann 6-2 6-2.
The world number three has only dropped one set during the entire tournament.
However, his semi-final opponent Tsitsipas is in even better form – having not dropped a single set so far on his run to the last four.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, came into his match off the back of a win over Alexander Zverev, while qualifier Hanfmann was in his first ever ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Both players broke each other’s serve in the opening three games, but Medvedev dominated from then on and won in 80 minutes to reach his seventh semi-final of the season.
Meanwhile Greek world number five Tsitsipas faced Borna Coric in his quarter-final, with the Croatian hunting a second semi-final in two weeks.
But 24-year-old Tsitsipas – who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Rome final – was on top from the start, winning 6-3 6-4 and backed by the home crowd despite dispatching Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego in previous rounds.
With Djokovic and world number two Carlos Alcaraz already out, both Medvedev and Tsitsipas will feel positive about their chances of claiming a clay-court title with the French Open just around the corner.
The other semi-final sees Norway’s Casper Ruud play rising star Holger Rune of Denmark, who beat Djokovic earlier in the tournament.
It will be the first final since 2004 in which neither Djokovic nor Rafael Nadal will feature.
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