Nadal's superb groundstrokes were impossible for Rochus to cope with

Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a fifth successive Barcelona Open title with a 6-2 6-0 victory over unseeded Christophe Rochus in round three.

The flamboyant left-hander broke in the third game with a cross-court forehand, and with some exquisitely precise shots he sealed an easy win in under an hour.

He was given a bye into the semi-finals when David Nalbandian withdrew due to injury after beating Nicolas Almagro.

Eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka lost 6-4 1-6 7-5 to Radek Stepanek.

Nadal's emphatic win was his 23rd in succession on clay and improved a phenomenal record on the surface since 2005 to 140 wins and just four defeats.

World number 61 Rochus shocked 13th seed Richard Gasquet in the previous round and took the opening game against Nadal to love.

But he was quickly swamped by the brilliance of the Spaniard's whipped passes, delivered with stunning accuracy into the corners.

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Tournament doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nalbandian, who went through to the last eight when he beat Spanish 10th seed Almagro 6-3 6-4, had sustained an inflammation of the right hip.

"He is not in the right condition to contest a match of the intensity of a quarter-final," Ruiz-Cotorro explained.

With the injury depriving Nadal the chance to play Nalbandian, the Spaniard said: "I'm sorry for him.

"It's never a nice thing to go through in this way but you have to see the positive side which is that I am in the last four."

The Australian Open, Wimbledon and French Open champion will play the winner of Friday's match between Stepanek and Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko, conqueror of Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

"Both are difficult opponents," Nadal said. "Stepanek has an unusual style and breaks up the play whereas Davydenko keeps the rhythm up all the time and is very hard to dominate.

"I'll be training a bit harder than normal tomorrow and that should be enough."

Fourth seed David Ferrer defeated Italian Potito Starace 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in what he called "a very physical match" and 2004 champion Tommy Robredo overhauled Russian Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

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