Serena Williams crushed Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 to book her place in the Italian Open final and extend her winning streak to 23 matches on Saturday.
World number one Williams, who is chasing a fourth consecutive tour title, will face Victoria Azarenka in Sunday's final after the third seed beat last year's French Open finalist Sara Errani 6-0, 7-5.
Williams's unbeaten run has included title successes in Miami, Charleston and Madrid and she is chasing a first Rome title since 2002, the year she won her only French Open.Her opponent was playing her first top-level semifinal and was bidding to become the first qualfier to reach the final in Rome.
Halep scored an early break of serve for a 2-1 lead in the first set but then wilted, winning just one more game as 15-times Grand Slam singles champion Williams steamrollered her way into the final.
Nadal in semis
On Friday, Rafael Nadal was stretched to the limit against David Ferrer before winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to set up a semifinal meeting with Tomas Berdych.
Nadal won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 for his ninth consecutive victory over Ferrer who hit the Mallorcan with every weapon in his locker but still came up short as he did in Madrid last week. "It was an extremely tough match, David always takes you to the limit," Nadal, looking for his sixth title in eight tournaments since returning from injury, told reporters. Earlier, Frenchman Benoit Paire dropped just one game against Marcel Granollers of Spain to reach his first Masters Series semifinal where he will play second seed Roger Federer. The Swiss overcame Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6.
After easing through the first set, Federer survived a scare when he was broken in the opening game of the second, but after clawing his way back to 5-5, he took the tiebreak for the loss of just two points.
Hesh-Bops in semis
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semifinals after getting a walkover from rivals Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek even as Sania Mizra and Bethanie Mattek-Sands crashed out of the women’s event.
Berdych cited muscle fatigue as the reason for him withdrawing. Bhupathi and Bopanna will now fight it out with Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and American Scott Lipsky for a place in the final.