Roger Federer fought to control the big game of Feliciano Lopez before eliminating the last Spaniard in contention at the Madrid Masters 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 on Friday in the quarterfinals.
The Swiss holder converted on one chance out of 11 against the cagey left-hander, who joined second seed Rafael Nadal in an exit as the lights went out for home hopes.
Tennis powerhouse Nadal could only laugh off a shoddy performance after suffering one of the worst defeats of his career to exit.
The world number two was humbled 6-1, 6-2 as Argentine David Nalbandian produced the best result of his own sorry season.
Federer had to play swashbuckling tennis to edge past Lopez, who took the one-hour-plus first set into a tiebreaker.
The top seed only managed to lift it with a return winner to claim the opener, then earned the long break of the contest for 5-4 in the second on a pass of the Spaniard.
The Swiss will face off Saturday against Nicolas Kiefer after the unseeded German upset Chilean fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.