Nadal on course for Federer showdown

There was no room for sentiment as Nadal sped to a 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory over his mentor in little more than two hours on Philippe Chatrier court.

The 21-year-old now faces Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals following the Serbian's straight-sets win over Igor Andreev earlier on Wednesday, and the odds on a Nadal-Federer final are reducing by the day. Federer, the world number one, will meet fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko in Friday's other semi.

Nadal's nagging consistency and retrieval skills allowed him to seal a 19th straight victory at Roland Garros, and he remains the only man not to drop a set this tournament. Moya, 30, is the regular practice partner of Nadal but even having the inside track on his fellow Spaniard could not prevent it from being a one-sided rout.

"I realise it was probably a bit painful for him," said Nadal, who stayed on course to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win three successive Roland Garros titles.

"I was just trying my best. The match was better for me than for him, that's for sure. I was happy I won the first set and then the match became totally different. He started making mistakes and I had the momentum. I am playing so much better, especially compared to the first three rounds."

On his thoughts regarding the anticipated final against Federer, Nadal added: "I see the all four (semi-finalists) having a chance. I am not thinking about Roger. I know Roger is the best in the world and Roger beat me the last time we played (in Hamburg) so in my opinion he's the favourite. But right now there are four in the draw."

Moya, the 1998 champion, fought valiantly however an increasing error count - 41 for the match - undermined his hopes of progresing into the semi-finals.

"Playing as I did today, I was never going to beat him," said Moya. "After he won the first set, everything was easier for him.

"But he was playing really deep, really high, and with his spin, he is difficult to attack. There was not much I could do. If he's focused the whole match, I don't see many players who can even get a set off him. Federer's one of them. Federer, with his forehand, could beat him."