Halep retains top spot with Rome last-eight win

Rome - Simona Halep made sure of retaining the world number one ranking and secured the top seeded spot at Roland Garros by beating Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3 to move into the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday.

The top-seeded Romanian will face Maria Sharapova for a place in Sunday's final.

Results from the ATP and WTA Masters tournament in Rome on Friday (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Novak Djokovic (SRB x11) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3

Marin Cilic (CRO x4) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP x10) 6-3, 6-3 

Women

Quarter-finals

Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x5) 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-5

Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) bt Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-4, 6-4

Anett Kontaveit (EST) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x2) 6-3, 6-1