Novak Djokovic

The Spaniard, 30, won 6-2 6-4 to claim his first victory over the Serb since the 2014 French Open final.

Nadal improved his record on clay this year to 14-0 and will face Austrian Dominic Thiem, who beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-4, in Sunday's final.

Kristina Mladenovic plays Simona Halep in Saturday's women's final.

Nadal confirmed his return to form with a long-awaited win over Djokovic, his 24th in 50 career meetings.

The world No 2 was due to face his toughest test to date in Spain, having struggled past Nicolas Almagro before a before straightforward victory over Feliciano Lopez.

But ahead of their Friday quarter-final showdown, world no 8 Nishikori suffered a recurrence of the wrist injury that has troubled him in recent months and with the French Open on the horizon, the Japanese has opted against taking a risk.

"I will plan to play Rome, but we will see." said Nishikori.

"I cannot promise to play or pull out right now. [The] French is more important."

The Serbian ditched his coaching team on Friday saying he needs to rediscover the "spark" that has been absent from his game since he won the 2016 French Open.

In a lengthy statement on his website, the 29-year-old said he had parted ways with coach Marian Vajda as well as fitness coach Gebhard Phil Gritsch, and physio Miljan Amanovic.

Goffin came through 6-2 3-6 7-5 and will now take on Nadal as the fourth seed continues his bid for a record 10th title at the tournament.

In a breathtaking clash, the 10th-ranked Belgian star got over the line on his fifth match point, to send Djokovic out.

The Serb, who was playing his third clay match of the year following a lingering right elbow injury, suffered the first loss of his career to the in-form Goffin, having won all of their previous five meetings.

Kyrgios has beaten the world number two in a stunning straight-sets win at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, thanks to an unplayable service game including 25 aces.

Ace after ace after ace came in the first set as Kyrgios left Djokovic chasing shadows from behind the baseline, edging the Serb in a tie-break.

Kyrgios's stats v Djokovic:

World number 117 Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan, who had never beaten a top-10 player at a major, aggressively went after the second seed to post a remarkable 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 second-round upset on Thursday.

It was the first time that 12-time grand slam champion Djokovic had failed to make the third round of a major since Wimbledon in 2008.

Djokovic's Australian Open finishes

Djokovic brought world No 1 Murray's 28-match winning streak to an end on Saturday to retain his Doha title in a three-set thriller.

The Serb star won 6-3 5-7 6-4 in a high-quality, action-packed match between the two best players in the world lasting almost three hours.

It was Djokovic's 25th career victory over Murray and he laid down an early-season marker against his great British rival, before the Australian Open later this month.

It's been a curious year for the Serb in a topsy-turvy campaign which has seen his 122-week reign at the top of the men's game come to an end by Andy Murray, and despite winning seven titles, including the Australian and French Open's, huge question marks hang over his state of mind heading into 2017.

The world number one was reported to have been involved in a close shave with a truck pre-tournament but insisted wildcard Ward came closer to knocking him off on Monday.

"Yeah, actually just also recently they told me about that small article that went into papers. There is no truth to that," Djokovic said after opening his title defence with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win.

"Actually I did come few days in the beginning of the week before Wimbledon with my bicycle.

The world number one, a three-time runner-up and seeking a maiden Roland Garros crown to complete the career Grand Slam, defeated Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, claiming a place in an eighth French Open semi-final and sixth in succession.

But the 29-year-old Serb, who will face Dominic Thiem of Austria for a spot in the final, admitted he was lucky to escape being kicked out of the tournament in the second game of the third set.