Andy Murray takes on Kei Nishikori in Madrid Masters semi-final

Andy Murray can move a step closer to recording back-to-back clay-court titles when he faces Kei Nishikori for a place in Sunday's Madrid Masters final.

Murray reached the semi-finals with a 6-4 7-5 victory over fifth seed Milos Raonic.

The World No 3 brushed aside his Canadian opponent, who was nursing a foot injury, with relative ease to take a step closer to winning his second clay-court title after success at last week's Munich Open.

Nishikori reached Saturday's late semi-final with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Spaniard David Ferrer.

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"I feel like I've been moving well," Murray told reporters. "Because I feel healthy this year, I'm not worrying about my back or worrying about things when I am put in difficult positions on court. That obviously gives me a bit more confidence in the movement."

Murray's preparation for the clay-court season in Barcelona is paying dividends after reaching his 23rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final.

His win over Raonic was his first against a top 10 player this year on the surface, although Nishikori will prove a difficult opponent having extended his unbeaten record on clay this year to eight matches.

Because I feel healthy this year, I'm not worrying about my back or worrying about things when I am put in difficult positions on court. That obviously gives me a bit more confidence in the movement.

Murray leads 3-1 in head-to-head meetings although Nishikori won their last encounter at the ATP World Tour Finals in London with a straight sets victory.

Nadal on course

Rafael Nadal remains on course for a third successive Madrid title after he waltzed into the semi-finals with a straight-sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

Nadal beat the Bulgarian 10th seed 6-3 6-4 inside two hours to set up a semi-final clash against Tomas Berdych.

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Victory over the Czech sixth seed would see Nadal seal his seventh Madrid Open final appearance and the four-time champion declared himself thoroughly pleased to progress after crashing out early at the Barcelona Open last month.

"Overall I'm satisfied; I'm happy," the Spanish world No 4 told the official ATP Tour website.

"I have made it to the semi-finals, and I think that's a great result for me, especially after losing in Barcelona the way I did.

"My goal is (to) feel myself playing better every day. That's my real goal. Then obviously, the goal is always the same, (to) try to have the (best) result possible."

Berdych fought back from the brink of defeat to beat John Isner and earn a last-four encounter against Nadal.

The world No 7 saved one match point in the second set tie-break before sealing a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-1) victory over the American 16th seed.

Nadal has lost just four times in 22 matches against Berdych although the Czech recorded his first win in 19 meetings in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and will be buoyed by his fine early season form.

Watch the Madrid Masters semi-finals live on Sky Sports 4 from 2pm and then on Sky Sports 3 from 7pm on Saturday 9 May.