Nadal bidding for his first win against Djokovic since 2014 Roland Garros final (lost 7 in a row).
Clearly buoyed after taking the opener, Nadal earned his first break of serve early into the second to take full control of the tie.
Djokovic had an even easier day as he moved into the last four without hitting a ball on Friday as Kei Nishikori withdrew with a wrist injury.
In another quarterfinal, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay rallied to beat Alexander Zverev of Germany 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Halep will face in-form Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic or Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday's final. Cuevas won one of the points of the tournament with a no-look victor with his back to the court after a lob shot by Zverev early in the second set. "There are matches that if you play your good tennis, you have chances".
And Cuevas landed the only break in the final game of the deciding set when Zverev fired wide to set up a semifinal against Dominic Thiem or Andy Murray's conqueror Borna Coric.
Addressing reporters at a press conference, the world number eight said: "Unfortunately it's still not 100% so I don't want to risk it".
Workers plug hole in collapsed tunnel at United States nuclear site
Be proactive - Use the "Flag as Inappropriate" link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts. He said the plant lies near the middle of the sprawling 580-square-mile Hanford site and was "a very high-hazard operation".
Nishikori has been struggling with a wrist problem in recent weeks which had caused him to withdraw from the Barcelona Open.
Off the back of triumphs in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, the clay-court specialist's French Open preparations are gathering pace, with Goffin defeated 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 on Friday.
Novak Djokovic staved off a huge upset in his first match since splitting with his long-time coaching team to beat Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round of the Madrid Masters Wednesday.
Djokovic hasn't played in the semifinals of any event since winning the title in Doha at the beginning of the year.
Nishikori is now also a major doubt for the Rome Masters next week with 10 days to go until the start of the French Open.
"I'm still finding my way to that consistency level and quality of tennis that I'm looking for", said Djokovic.
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