King of clay Rafael Nadal returned to form on Saturday afternoon avenging the defeat he suffered to Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open quarterfinals with a devastating straight sets win over the big Czech at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open semifinals.
Nadal started the match somewhat subdued allowing 2012 finalist Berdych to boss play in the first few games. As the set progressed it became a much more one-sided contest with Nadal shaking off any lingering concerns about his form heading into the match.
The defending champion wasn’t having it all his way in front of the home fans as he was denied two break point chances in the opener, with Berdych producing some big play to hold serve in the 7th and 11th games. Nadal eventually struck, taking his opportunity in the tie-break to seal the first set 7-6(3).
With his old raquet firmly back in his hand and his ruthless forehand continuously finding the mark it was clear that Nadal had returned to his blistering best, going on to break Berdych twice in the second set and claiming the victory in one hour and 44 minutes in front of a delighted home crowd.
Four-time champion Nadal will make his seventh final appearance at the Caja Magica on Sunday against Andy Murray after he came through against Kei Nishikori in the second semifinal of the day on centre court.
Andy Murray came through the match in the second semifinal of the day after beating the Japanese player in straight sets on Saturday evening to set a 21st meeting with Nadal in Sunday’s final.
Fresh from his recent Munich triumph The Scot looked confident throughout, eventually breaking late in the first set to secure a comfortable 5-3 lead before breaking for a second time to take the first set 6-3.
In the second set Murray outclassed 2014 runner-up Nishikori, breaking for the third time in the match to seal the second and the match 6-3 6-4 in 1 hour 37 minutes to book his place in his first Mutua Madrid Open final and his first career Masters final on clay.
In Sunday’s final, 28 year old Nadal is bidding to win his 66th tour-level title and his 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown. The Spaniard will also be bidding for first European clay-court title of 2015, a winning tradition Nadal has kept since 2005,. It will be no easy feat against Murray who has been in fine clay-court form, having recently won in Munich.
It will be the 21st meeting between the two players, with Nadal leading Murray in their head to head 15-5, including 6-0 on clay. Nadal has previously won their last two encounters, both on clay, defeating Murray in a tight three set encounter in Rome and a more straight-forward win at Roland Garros in 2014 in straight sets.
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