Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal cruised over Jarkko Nieminen in the third round of Madrid Masters. Reuters

Rafael Nadal goes head-to-head with Tomas Berdych for a place in the last four of the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open at the Estadio Manolo Santana, Spain, on Friday.

Where to Watch Live

The match is set to begin at 2:30pm BST. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports 3 HD. Real-time internet updates and the live streaming link are available on ATP official website.

Overview

Nadal kept alive his hopes of retaining his Madrid Masters crown after overcoming Jarkko Nieminen in the third round on Thursday. The world no 1 trumped the 32-year-old Finn, 6-1, 6-3, in straight sets needing under 80 minutes.

The Spaniard is now scheduled to play Berdych in the quarterfinal. The duo have been drawn against each other 20 times excluding their meeting in the 2014 Miami Masters, where the Czech Republican was forced to withdraw due to gastroenteritis in the semi-final.

Berdych is still looking to win his first Madrid Masters title and lost in the final two years ago to 17-time Grand Slam winner, Roger Federer.

The World No 6 managed to overturn a first set defeat against Grigor Dimitrov to win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the other third round fixture on Thursday. The 26-year-old required one hour and 50 minutes to send his 22-year-old Bulgarian opponent packing out of the competition.

Nadal will be keen not to collapse in the last-eight stage in the Spanish capital; having already suffered back-to-back quarterfinal defeats in the 2014 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters and the 2014 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell last month.

The winner of this quarterfinal clash will face the winner between Roberto Bautista Agut and Santiago Giraldo, in the semi-final on Saturday.

Head-To-Head

Nadal holds a comfortable 17-3 lead over Berdych in overall meetings. The pair have clashed thrice in Grand Slam events and the Spaniard has prevailed on all occasions.

Nadal also holds a 5-0 lead in his last five meetings against Berdych.

Mutua Madrid Open History

Nadal and Berdych have only faced each other once in Madrid; where the latter emerged triumphant at the same stage in 2006.