Nadal advances, Federer, Osaka withdraw from Italian Open due to injuries

Roger Federer and top-ranked Naomi Osaka withdrew before their Italian Open quarter-finals because of injuries on Friday.

Federer reported a right leg injury ahead of his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Osaka said her right hand was injured before she was to play Kiki Bertens.

Federer and Osaka both won two matches on Thursday after play was backed up due to rain a day earlier.

While Osaka won both of her matches in straight sets, the 37-year-old Federer had to labour for more than 2 1/2 hours to overcome Borna Coric in his second time on court.

"I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today. I am not 100 per cent physically and, after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play," Federer said. "Rome has always been one of my favourite cities to visit and I hope to be back next year."

It's only the fourth time in Federer's career he has had a walkover loss, the ATP Tour said, adding the 20-time Grand Slam champion has never retired in 1,465 matches.

Federer was not originally planning to play in Rome but he changed his schedule last week, saying he would rather play matches than practice ahead of the French Open, which starts in nine days.

Nadal to the semis

Tsitsipas and Bertens advanced to the semifinals via walkover.

Tsitsipas' semifinal opponent will be eight-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-0.

 Nadal has fallen in the semifinals of his last three tournaments, all on his favoured clay. He also lost to Tsitsipas las week in Madrid.

"I know what happened last week, and I [am] going to try to do it better tomorrow," Nadal said. "I have to hold the level or increase a little bit more. If that happens, I [am] going to have my chances. The good thing is during the last month my feeling is every week was better than the previous one."

Tsitsipas, 20, is up to No. 7 in the rankings.

Osaka mum on injury

Osaka couldn't immediately say how serious the injury was, or if it will affect her status for Roland Garros. She was yet to see a doctor but when she held her hand up for reporters to see it was clearly swollen.

"I woke up this morning and couldn't really move my thumb," Osaka said. "I tried to practice and grip my racket but I couldn't, and I kept feeling this pain when I tried to move my hand in different directions."

Osaka's win on Thursday guaranteed that she will remain No. 1 going into the French Open.

"I didn't feel anything yesterday. That's why I'm kind of confused right now because I literally woke up in the morning and couldn't move my thumb," Osaka said. "So I was like, 'Maybe I slept on it and maybe it will go away.' But it didn't."

Bertens, who won the Madrid Open last week, will face Marketa Vondrousova or Johanna Konta for a spot in the final.

The quarter-finals in the other half of the draw feature former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka against Karolina Pliskova, and Kristina Mladenovic against Maria Sakkari in a matchup of two qualifiers.

Tsitsipas' semifinal opponent will be eight-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-0.

 Nadal has fallen in the semifinals of his last three tournaments, all on his favoured clay. 

Also reaching the last four was Diego Schwartzman, who beat Kei Nishikori for the first time in four tries, 6-4, 6-2, to reach his first Masters Series semifinal.

The 24th-ranked Schwartzman will face top-ranked Novak Djokovic or fellow Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.