Roger Federer erased one of the few minor blemishes on his spotless career record on Friday, reaching a semi-final at the Monte Carlo Open for the first time.
The peerless Swiss top seed defeated Spain's David Ferrer, 6-1, 6-3, stopping the eighth-seeded grinder for the second time in a month after beating him in the Miami semis.
"I'm very proud to have finally gotten into the semis here," a satisfied Federer said as he waited for fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez to square off to determine his next opponent.
"I got off to a good start - he won the first five games - and put pressure on David. But at the start of the second set, He raised his level.
"I had to do the same, It was a tough match but a good win for me." Federer now stands 32-1 on the season with four titles after winning his 28th straight match at the Masters Series level. The Swiss managed 25 winners and broke five times.
His main rival, world number two defending champion Rafael Nadal, rolled over a struggling Guillermo Coria to advance, claiming 12 of the last 13 games to win 6-2, 6-1.
Coria, far from his best and weighed down by a serve which has not worked all week, was seen by the trainer early in the second set. The Argentine, beaten in the final last year by Nadal, had his blood pressure taken and swallowed a tablet before returning to his fate on court.
The rout lasted 69 minutes, with Coria limiting his double-faults to eight, but committing 28 unforced errors. Nadal broke his opponent seven times.
"I felt poorly but after they told me it was normal, I felt a bit better," said Coria, who blamed the three-hour matches he played in the two previous rounds for sapping his fitness.
"Nadal is a beast on court, he hits such a heavy ball. Our first two games were very long ones and that took a lot out of me. "I don't know why I got so tired quickly. But Nadal kept me under pressure and played well on the important points."
Nadal will line up in Saturday's semi-final against the Argentine who preceded him as Roland Garros champion, seventh-seeded Gaston Gaudio.
Gaudio, the 27-year-old Argentine world number eight, put out Spain's 15th seed Tommy Robredo in an equally one-sided encounter which finished 6-1, 6-3.
"It was a very good match, I played very well during the first set. He seemed tired or asleep or something, so I took advantage of it." Nadal improved to 4-1 over Coria as his form gathers pace in his first clay event of the season.
The Spaniard has now won 40 matches on clay, the fourth-longest run in post-1968 Open era history. His last loss on the surface came in the Valencia quarter-finals in April, 2005.
"I'm building confidence at my first clay tournament of the season," said Nadal. "I want to play good, but I don't think about repeating," he said of his runaway success of 2005. "I know it will be very, very, very difficult - maybe impossible."
The off-colour Coria won the title here two years ago, finishing runner-up in 2003 and 2005.