Djokovic next up for holder Nadal

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PARIS, France -- Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal swept into the French Open semifinals on Wednesday with a 6-4 6-3 6-0 demolition of boyhood mentor Carlos Moya.

Nadal did not let sentimentality blur his focus against his fellow Spaniard as he set up a semifinal showdown with Serb Novak Djokovic.

The brutal destruction took Nadal's Roland Garros record to 19-0 and more significantly, it kept him in line to match Bjorn Borg's hat-trick of titles achieved in 1980.

Ominously for his rivals, Nadal declared: "I'm playing better than I was last year."

While Nadal has never experienced the losing feeling in the French capital, Djokovic, who at 20 is a year younger, was delighted to be still standing.

He ended the giant-killing run of Russian Igor Andreev with a relentless 6-3 6-3 6-3 exhibition to became the first Serbian man to take his place among the last four in Paris.

Djokovic's reward for such a dynamic display is a date with the double French Open champion, a man no one has ever beaten at the claycourt grand slam.

The task will be all the more difficult as Djokovic had made it this far without facing a single player in the top 50 -- with his list of victims standing at 123, 312, 129, 51 and 125th in the world.

Before he starts planning Nadal's downfall, Djokovic was keen to take some time out to absorb his own accomplishment.

"My first semifinal of a grand slam, it's the biggest success I've had in my career," said the sixth seed, whose last two trips here ended in premature retirements.

"A lot of people expected for me to reach the second week and I'm happy that I did it. I'm really looking forward to the semifinal."

Thirty-year-old Moya also had visions of progressing further in the tournament. But to do that he had to find away around a player more than nine years his junior.

Nadal was still crafting his claycourt skills as a precocious 12-year-old when Moya lifted the Musketeers' Cup in 1998.

Keen that others should benefit from his triumph, Moya went back home and passed on some tips to his young friend.

On Wednesday, it did not even cross Nadal's mind to repay the favor.

From the moment Nadal bounded on court, he was out to do damage.

Unleashing his forehands with ferocious power, Nadal got the first break at 3-2 in the first set when Moya's shot kissed the tape and cruelly rolled back on to his own side of the court.

It did not take Nadal much longer to pocket the first set and the second set flashed by even quicker.

Facing three set points on his serve, Moya looked up to the heavens for help. His prayers seemed to have been answered when he produced a stunning reflex volley from the baseline to lob Nadal and save the first.

While his spirit was willing, his body was slowy letting him down and that proved to be Moya's last hurrah as Nadal reeled off eight games in a row to end his friend's torment after two hours.

Djokovic confirmed his status as the rising young star of world tennis with victory in just two hours 12 minutes.

He used a strong service and powerful groundstrokes to dismantle the awkward Russian with five breaks of service after losing his own first delivery in his only real sign of nerves.

A run of five straight games from 3-3 in the opener saw Djokovic to a 2-0 lead in the second set.

An early break in the third to lead 3-0 put him firmly in command and he closed out the match on his first matchpoint as the 125th-ranked Andreev hit a forehand into the net.

Djokovic joins women compatriots Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic in the last four of the showcase claycourt event.

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