Dancevic, ranked 89 spots below the Spanish world number two, put up a ferocious first set in front of 11,000 fans. But his bid to become the first home player into the Canadian semi-finals since 1969 fell short as Nadal triumphed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Nadal dropped the first set on a break, but found his range to save seven break points in the second as Dancevic needed multiple treatments for a back problem. The Roland Garros champion from Spain stayed in command in the third.

"It was a beautiful match, he played very well," said Nadal. "It was tough for me out there."

Nadal improved his ATP-best season mark to 59-8 after surviving the local hero, a finalist last month at Indianapolis.

Vicory hands Nadal, winner of the event the last time it was played here in 2005, a Saturday date with Serb Novak Djokovic, who beat Andy Roddick 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Nadal has won five of six against Djokovic, the last in the Wimbledon semis, but was beaten by the Serb on hard court.

"I went in really nervous against a player like Roddick," said the 20-year-old Djokivic. "You know he has a fast and precise serve and can put a lot of pressure on you.

"I didn't play as well from the baseline as I did in my first two matches. It was a difficult match mentally and I survived it. It's always good to win when you don't play your best."

Roger Federer was broken for the first time this week but shrugged off the hiccup to post his tenth successive win over Lleyton Hewitt.

The showdown between current and former generations of number one players put the Swiss top seed into the semi-finals against Czech Radek Stepanek, who surprised Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5.

Federer, aiming to achieve a 50th career title, lifted his record over Hewitt to 12-7 following his 6-3, 6-4 success.

Over the course of that winning streak, dating back to the 2003 Davis Cup semi-final in Melbourne, he has dropped just three sets.

"It was the first time I've been broken this week," said Federer, 39-5 this season with grand slam titles in Australia and Wimbledon.

"I served better than he did, and that gave me an advantage. It's a pleasure to play Lleyton after two years, we always have tough matches."

"It looked like I was pretty much in control, but the first set took 45 minutes," said Federer. "We both had our chances.

"It went my way in the end because I served well in the important moments."

Victory was the 15th in a row in Canada for Federer, who will try to peg back the surging Stepanek on Saturday.

The former number eight, who has made a successful come back from a nerve injury, which affected his hand, has won 13 of his last 15 matches.

During that spell he took the title last month in Los Angeles, beating American James Blake in the final.