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MIAMI: French Open champion Rafael Nadal advanced to
the final of the ATP Masters Series Sony Ericsson Open with a 7-6,
(8-6), 6-2 victory over Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych on Friday.
Nadal, the second seed, will play
in Sunday’s championship match of the $7.54-million event against
the Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko who overpowered US sixth
seed Andy Roddick 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the other semifinal.
“He’s physically so fit,”
Davydenko said of Nadal. “It’s amazing. And for him, I think he
doesn’t care, playing night session or day session. He runs so
much. You know, he fights.”
Nadal, seeking a $590,000 top
prize, is attempting to become the first Spanish player to win this
event.
He lost to world No. 1 Roger
Federer in the 2005 championship.
“I arrive here and I practice
every day very well,” Nadal said. “I said before tournament I
was playing very well, and right now I am in the finals. So anything
can happen in this final.”
The 21-year-old left-handed
Spaniard will be seeking his 24th career title and first this season
in Sunday’s final.
Davydenko reached his first final
of the year and is the first Russian in the 24-year history of this
hardcourt event to play in the championship match.
Davydenko won the opening set
over Roddick with a cross-court winner on Roddick’s serve, then
broke his opponent three times in the second set.
“He doesn’t give an inch,”
Roddick said.
Roddick, who already has won at
San Jose and Dubai this year, appeared poised to win the first set
Friday when he forced a mini-break to go ahead 4-3 in the tiebreak.
However, the 26-year-old won the
next two points on Roddick’s serve, which to that point had been
dominant, for a 5-4 lead.
Roddick saved one match point to
get within 6-5, but Davydenko broke through again to claim the
opening set.
Roddick stunned Federer in the
quarterfinals Thursday, taking only his second victory in 17 career
meetings with the Swiss superstar by 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3.
Roddick, the 2004 winner here, is
19-4 this season with titles in San Jose and Dubai, where he
defeated Nadal and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic on his
way to the crown.
--AFP
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