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Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 7-6(3), 6-1 and will face Andy Murray, who defeated Kei NIshikori 6-3 6-4, at the Mutua Madrid Open final.
"For the past couple of days I have been playing better and better every day," said Nadal. "That's always very good news. I am in the final. I am happy for that. I am enjoying a lot the fact that I am playing in front of an unbelievable crowd. For me, that's the best crowd in the world without any doubt. So that gives me a lot of really positive energy.
"Today I played again at a very good level. I did yesterday; today I played at a very, very high level. Let's see tomorrow if I am able to continue with that positive feeling. This week has been fantastic for me. This is a very important result, and that's confidence, that's positive energy. That's calm, too. Let's try to continue tomorrow and try to continue with that good feeling next week. I worked a lot to have that feeling, and today I had that feeling that I've been trying to find for a while."
The Spaniard was denied two break point chances in the opener, with Berdych rallying to hold serve in the seventh and 11th games. But Nadal took his opportunity in the tie-break to seal the first set, despite Berdych having gone into the match with a 13-1 tie-break record this season. With his forehand relentlessly finding its mark and frustrating Berdych, Nadal then broke the Czech twice in the second set as he raced to victory in one hour and 44 minutes.
Murray improved to 9-0 on clay this year, advancing to his 14th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final and second in the Spanish capital.
"This year and in the off-season I put in a lot of hard work on my game and made a few changes and tried to get back to playing the way that I was playing when I was my most successful," said Murray. "I think today I was pretty aggressive. I tried to dictate a lot of the points, especially when he was serving, and it worked well."
The Scott saved a break point in an 11-point sixth game of the first set, and would respond with with an immediate break of his own in the next game. The World No. 3 hammered a leaping backhand return to draw an error from Nishikori and secure the early advantage. The two supreme returners combined for five return winners in the opener and it was Murray who would take full control with a second break to capture the set after 45 minutes.
In the second set, Nishikori began opening the court with a bigger shotmaking variety and he would give Murray a more physical test in utilising the drop shot early and often. The World No. 5 appeared to turn the tables with a break for 2-1, but a loose service game opened the door for Murray to immediately draw level. The Dunblane native countered Nishikori's physicality with an aggressive approach of his own in breaking back and maintaining the momentum to the finish line.
Murray will look to overturn a 5-15 mark in his Head2Head rivalry against Nadal. It will be their first meeting since the Spaniard triumphed in the Roland Garros semi-finals last year.
"Against Rafa it is going to be extremely difficult, especially playing here in Spain. I think he's played very well this week, too. Hopefully I can put in a good performance and make it tough for him and see what happens."
Nishikori, meanwhile, fell in his bid to return to the Madrid title match, having succumbed to injury in last year's final against Nadal.
"There were too many unforced errors from me," said Nishikori. "I don't think I played too bad, but to beat Andy I was missing too much. I thought I was doing well a couple times, but I think overall he maintained his concentration pretty well.
"Obviously here and Barcelona is a much different surface. It's the same clay, but this one the bounce is high and is very fast. A little bit altitude too. But I have been playing well from last year. It's great to (be in a) Masters 1000 semi-final, so hopefully I can do well next week, too."
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe
Info from ATP
