Rafael Nadal showed no mercy in only dropping three games to fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro to set up a French Open semi-final clash with third seed Novak Djokovic.
The 22-year-old was utterly dominant as he destroyed Almagro 6-1 6-1 6-1 with a claycourt masterclass.
The three-time defending champion has lost only 25 games in five rounds so far and remains a red-hot favourite to add a fourth Roland Garros crown to his CV on Sunday.
On this sort of form, even world number three Djokovic will hold little fear for Nadal who never looked in any danger against Almagro.
Almagro came into the match knowing he had to serve well to stand any chance, but his first-serve percentage was a woeful 38.
He also produced 36 unforced errors to Nadal's nine, although few players ever outscore Nadal in that department.
Almagro won the opening game of the match on his serve but then proceeded to lose the next nine.
He looked under pressure almost straight away as Nadal's brilliant defence ensured the ball just kept coming back at him.
Nadal's streak came to an end in the fourth game of the second set but it proved to be just a blip.
At one stage Almagro was pulled around the court so much that he ended up throwing his racquet at the ball in a vain attempt to touch it.
Nadal won the last six games to secure his place in the semis, clinching victory courtesy of an outrageous retrieval that Almagro then smashed into the net.
The last-four clash with Djokovic will be a repeat of last year's semi which Nadal won in straight sets and few would bet against him repeating that scoreline on Friday.
Earlier, Djokovic was made to work hard by Ernests Gulbis but still won in straight sets to make the last four.
Third seed Djokovic was kept on court for more than three hours but came through a 7-5 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 winner on Court Suzanne Lenglen.