Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:57, UK
The trials and tribulations of Rafael Nadal continued on clay after he was comprehensively beaten by Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters.
The former Australian Open champion, who had beaten Nadal only once in their previous 13 encounters, will next face his fellow Swiss countryman Roger Federer for a place in Sunday's final.
Meanwhile, nine-time French Open champion Nadal will head to Roland Garros without a European clay-court title to his name for the first time.
The Spaniard surrendered four first set points as Wawrinka fought back from the brink to take it and then run away with the match which lasted a little over two hours.
Nadal's dominance on clay appears to be slipping, as he has now lost five of his 22 contests on the surface this year and was beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the last fortnight before his latest defeat.
The last time Nadal was beaten so many times on his favorite surface was 12 years ago, and with the French Open nine days away, his status as the favourite is in question.
Nadal dropped out of the top five in the ATP rankings for the first time in 10 years, falling to world No 7 on Monday.
Don't miss the semi-finals of the Rome Masters live on Sky Sports 5 HD from 12.55pm and then on Sky Sports 2 from 7pm on Saturday 16 May.
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