Davydenko injury benefits Canas

Canas won the Brazil Open on clay earlier this year

Guillermo Canas reached the semi-finals of the Seat Barcelona Open without hitting a ball when Nikolay Davydenko pulled out with an injured right wrist.

The Russian second seed withdrew before their quarter-final, giving the Argentine 12th seed a walkover.

Canas will face compatriot and 15th seed Agustin Calleri after he eased past Spain's Oscar Hernandez 6-0 6-3.

Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-2 7-5 and will now play compatriot David Ferrer.

606: DEBATE Canas has always been a player of the highest quality Michael

Fifth seed Ferrer reached the final four in Barcelona for the first time with a 7-6 6-2 win over David Nalbandian.

He edged a tight first set against the Argentine fifth seed before cruising through the second to clinch victory.

Victory for Nadal, 20, over Starace took the world number two's record run of consecutive wins on clay to 70.

It also moved him a step closer to becoming only the second man, after Swede Mats Wilander, to win the Barcelona Open three years in a row.

Nadal, who struck 18 unforce errors, admitted his victory against the dogged Starace was not an easy one.

"I had trouble with the wind, it was really swirling," said the man who has not lost on clay in more than two years. "The conditions made it very difficult."

Ferrer has beaten Nadal only once in four meetings, on the clay in Stuttgart in 2004.