Novak Djokovic sets up Kei Nishikori semi in Madrid after Milos Raonic victory

Djokovic cruised to a 6-3 lead in the first set.

In the second set, Djokovic always appeared in control, but had to work a little harder when Raonic put up a stronger fight. The world number one eventually won 6-4.

Nishikori beat Nick Kyrgios in his own quarter-final - but struggled at times, eventually coming out on top 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 6-3 in two hours and 39 minutes.

He is likely to be anxious at the prospect of meeting Djokovic - who has won his past 13 matches against top 10 players, dropping only one of 30 sets in that streak.

"One of the keys of the match was getting as many returns back in play as possible,” Djokovic said to the ATP website. "I knew that before I stepped on the court that I should not give him too many free points on his serve. That's where the big servers get a lot of confidence. I returned exceptionally well. Every single player, especially big servers, have their patterns when it's close. But sometimes it's just instinct. It's just anticipation, trying to be in the right balance and looking at the toss.”