A day after saving two match points at the Madrid Open, Federer squandered two match points himself in the quarterfinals against Dominic Thiem on Friday, losing 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4.
The fifth-ranked Austrian cruised to victory for his second title of the year, adding to his triumph in Indian Wells last month.
Dominic Thiem defeated Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the final while Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu upset Angelique Kerber 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win the women's title at Indian Wells.
Roger Federer defeated Dominic Thiem 6-2 6-3 in his second game at this year's ATP Finals in London on Tuesday.
Nadal's form never wavered, though, and soon enough he was celebrating his 17th Grand Slam title overall, second among men only to Roger Federer's 20.
The 32-year-old Spaniard is 10-0 in finals in Paris, winning the trophy every year from 2005-08, then again every year from 2010-14, then again in 2017.
The No. 1-ranked Nadal compiled a 35-20 edge in winners while making only 19 unforced errors on Friday.
Del Potro is playing in the French Open semi-finals for the first time in nine years.
Djokovic saved three match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker before his 72nd-ranked rival converted his fourth with a backhand return winner.
The 24-year-old Thiem leads 4-2 overall against Zverev, but lost to him last month in the Madrid Masters final.
The 21-year-old Zverev won his eighth career title and second of the season after also winning the Munich Open last weekend.
Thiem beat the sixth-seeded Anderson after breaking both of his first service games in each set.
Nadal hadn't lost a single set on clay since falling to Thiem at the Rome Open quarterfinals one year ago.
Verdasco will play fifth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1 winner over Alijaz Bedene of Slovenia in the late match.
Cilic won only one match on the clay in Rio in his first tournament since he reached the Australian Open final in January.
Monfils finished Cilic off in 5 minutes after their match was interrupted by heavy rain on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old American, who entered the season's opening major ranked 97th, missed a match point in the fourth set but held on for a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over fifth-seed Thiem.
Wearing a compression sleeve on his right arm to protect his troublesome elbow, Djokovic dominated the fifth-ranked Thiem 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday in an exhibition match at the Kooyong Classic tournament.
Thiem now has a chance to book a spot in the semi-finals of this elite year-end event with a victory over Belgium's David Goffin on Friday.
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