Open to prepare for the claycourt swing, was stunned by Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3 6-0. Twice Rome champion and fourth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who skipped the U.S. But every time is different, because she's playing so hard. "If I play my best game, and if I feel great physically on court, I have a big chance to win the match. Halep said: "Every time I played well against her (Muguruza), I was as much as possible aggressive. The top-seeded Romanian will now meet Spain's ninth seed Garbine Muguruza, who survived an early scare against Victoria Azarenka to beat the U.S. In the women's draw, 2018 French Open champion Simona Halep advanced to the semis when her opponent Yulia Putintseva retired due to a lower back injury while trailing 6-2 2-0. "I'll do some homework and be ready for that one." It's semi-finals and it's anybody's game," said Djokovic, who will be targeting his 30th victory from 31 matches this year. "Clay is definitely Casper's preferred surface. He takes on Casper Ruud for a place in the final after the Norwegian battled past fourth seed and local hope Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 7-6(5) in their last-eight clash. However, Djokovic regained his focus to close out the victory and stay on course for his 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown. Open for hitting a line judge with a ball, but faced a potentially tricky test when Koepfer levelled the contest at one set apiece. The top-ranked Serb had sailed through the previous two rounds, his first matches since being defaulted at the U.S. Schwartzman will face Denis Shapovalov in the semi-finals after the Canadian defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 3-6 6-2 for his 100th tour-level match win.Įarlier in the day, Novak Djokovic overcame a mid-match wobble against Dominik Koepfer before securing a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over the unseeded German and a semi-final spot. Nadal will now travel to Paris, where he will look to clinch a record-extending 13th French Open title. "Losing that many serves, you can't expect to win a match," Nadal said. Nadal committed 30 unforced errors to Schwartzman's 17 and had his serve broken five times.