Monaco, April 18 (IANS) Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal booted out fellow Spaniard David Ferrer to reach men’s singles semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. He will go head-to-head against World No.1 Novak Djokovic next up.

The ‘King of Clay’, who has 14 Grand Slam titles, managed 6-4 in the first set and looked comfortable at the start of the second, swiftly racing to 3-0. He struggled to break thereon and lost 5-7 before coming back with a 6-2 third set win to seal the match here on Friday, reports Xinhua.

“I played at the highest level in a long time, three hours almost. The way I played the third set after losing a disappointing second was great in terms of tennis, in terms of physical performance, and in terms of mentality,” said Nadal, who has struggled with injuries over the past year.

Nadal leads a career record of 23-19 against Djokovic, including two victories over the Serb in the 2009 and 2012 finals here before Djokovic exacted revenge in the 2013 title match.

Earlier, the 27-year-old Djokovic had moved to a perfect 12-0 record over Marin Cilic to reach the semis with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

“The first set went completely my way. I knew he was going to start to change some things in his game so he could start to play a little bit better. But I made a crucial break at the beginning of the second,” he said.

The other semi-final will pit Czech Tomas Berdych and Frenchman Gael Monfils. Berdych reached the semis after rival Canadian Milos Raonic, the fourth seed, retired with a right-foot injury while Monfils eased past Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-1, 6-3.