Nadal blasted his way through the first set and looked on course to complete a comfortable victory when he moved 5-3 ahead in the second. However, Murray bravely battled back from the brink, breaking his opponent's serve for just the second time in the match before forcing a tie break.

But in the end the Scot was unable to get on level terms, eventually succumbing to the undisputed king of clay after over two hours on court.

At least the world number four can console himself with the fact that he conjured up some of his best tennis of the year in a losing cause, an impressive feat after having to play twice on Friday.

He did manage a break of serve in the opening set to make it 2-1 thanks to two unforced errors, though he only managed to win one more game. The second set proved much more competitive, though, Murray deciding to go on the attack as he traded blows from the back of the court.

Even a game away from defeat he continued to be aggressive, the crowd standing to their feet when the score moved to 5-5. The tie break was just as action-packed, both players taking points against the serve.

Nadal looked relieved when he finally sealed the match to keep alive his hopes of winning the title for a fifth straight year. He has now not lost in 26 matches in Monte Carlo.

Novak Djokovic is the last man standing in the Spaniard's way after he came from a set down to record a 4-6 6-1 6-3 defeat of Stanislas Wawrinka.

The third seed broke his opponent's serve three times in the decider to stretch his career record to 6-2 against the Swiss. Wawrinka had gone 1-0 up thanks to a single break but was unable to pull off another upset following his stunning success over compatriot Roger Federer earlier in the week.

"I started really slowly. I wasn't moving on the court the way I wanted to and I was too defensive," said Djokovic afterwards. "Stan stepped up and took his chances and he was in control of the match. I made some crucial double faults and the first set went pretty quickly in his favour.”

"But then I started playing more offensive and stepping up to the court and playing my style of game and it paid off in the end."

Article from Sky Sports