Rafael Nadal guaranteed he would become the third Spanish man to top the world rankings with a 7-6, 6-1 victory over Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.
By beating Lapentti, Nadal will end Roger Federer's four-and-a-half-year reign as world number one on Aug. 18 at the latest, or as early as Monday if he takes the Cincinnati title.
Nadal's win also took him a step closer to a sixth successive tournament triumph, underlining his evolution into a far more adaptable player on all court surfaces rather than his favorite, clay.
After ending Federer's five-year winning run at Wimbledon last month, Nadal has maintained his superlative form on the hard courts of North America while his Swiss rival has stumbled to early defeats in the two tournaments he has played since.
Should Nadal lose Sunday's final he would top the rankings on Aug. 11 while a semi-final defeat would delay his coronation for another week.
The 32-year-old Lapentti took the contest to a tentative Nadal in the first set, often pinning the Spaniard way back behind the baseline with an aggressive brand of attacking tennis.
Nadal saved two break points in the eighth game and the reprieve appeared to invigorate him into action as he cruised through the tie break and the second set to seal victory in a one hour and 48 minutes.
The number two seed will face Novak Djokovic in Saturday's semi-final after the Serb battled past unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4 and Nadal knows he will need to play better to advance.
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