Rafael Nadal to take on Roger Federer in Sunday's final

Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a seventh title in the Italian capital thanks to a stunning semi-final victory against Tomas Berdych.

Nadal, who came into this year's tournament seeded only fifth having missed seven months of action because of a knee injury, was in blistering form.

He came through relatively untroubled 6-2 6-4, in an hour and 17 minutes to record his 13th straight win over his Czech opponent.

The 11-time Grand Slam champion produced a superb opening set of tennis, losing just one point on serve against the Czech sixth-seed in just 31 minutes of action.

Berdych, who booked an unlikely place in the last four after upsetting top-seeded Novak Djokovic, put up much more of a fight in the second set.

He kept his composure and his serve until Nadal sensed an opportune moment to break in the ninth game when he turned on the gas to break Berdych before serving out the match.

"He starts really well and, of course, it's Rafa and we know how he plays on clay," said Berdych.

"It was a good start for him. Yesterday I had one chance that I did take and I won, and today I had one chance that I didn't take and I lost."

Sunday will be Nadal's eighth consecutive final and there he will meet second seed Roger Federer.

Federer booked his final spot with a somewhat trickier 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 win over France's Benoit Paire.

Paire was pushing the Swiss star hard in the early stages of the match as both players exchanged breaks of serve, but Federer stepped up a gear in the first set tie-break to get his nose in front, even after going a mini break down.

Paire's challenge faltered in the second set as Federer secured a crucial break of serve, completing the victory soon after in one hour and 28 minutes.