The Spaniard eased into the final four in the capital of his homeland by overcoming Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-2 yesterday in the quarter finals.
Rafael Nadal is looking to win his sixth Madrid Open title and claim his 34th Masters 1000 success in the process.
The 32-year-old has yet to win a tournament in 2019 having, surprisingly, fallen at the semi-final stage at his past two clay-court events.
Nadal swept four of an available five clay titles last year, only missing out in Madrid where he lost to Dominic Thiem, but having only returned from injury in Monte Carlo is still just returning to his peak form.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion faces young Greek Tsitsipas knowing that a victory would pit him against either world No 1 Novak Djokovic or Thiem, who he also lost to in the Barcelona Open last month.
Having already defeated up-and-coming talents Felix Auger Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe in Madrid this week, Nadal will hope to claim another Next Gen scalp but he is aware of Tsitsipas’ talents.
The 20-year-old has never beaten Nadal in three career meetings but defeated defending Madrid champion Alexander Zverev in the quarter finals and is fresh from a win at the Estoril Open earlier this month.
Nadal said of Tsitsipas: “He’s also a young player. He has a lot of potential, a lot of energy. He’s playing well.
“He won last week in Estoril and he’s already won a lot of matches in a row. So, it’s going to be one of these matches that is an opportunity.
“It is a good test for me. I’m facing some of the best players. He has a lot of confidence.
“He’s been playing well recently and it is an opportunity to test my level of game and to confirm those good feelings that I have had today on the court.
“You need tough matches to be able to measure yourself, to be able to test yourself, to compete and to fight for every single point and to keep on finding the things that I might need.
“Weeks like this really help me a lot in order to build my game and to improve and tomorrow is another extra opportunity and, hopefully, I will be ready to play against an opponent like the one I have to face tomorrow.
“I’ll need to play my best. Today was a good example. I need to continue tomorrow, that’s the goal.”
Nadal owns a 3-0 career head-to-head record against Tsitsipas, last beating him at the Australian Open in the semi final stage back in January.