Intro:

Rafa Nadal gave further evidence he is finding his best form with a straight sets win over Roberto Bautista Agut in the Madrid Open semi-finals on Saturday.

Script:

Rafael Nadal is on course for his second consecutive Madrid Open triumph after beating Spanish compatriot Roberto Bautista 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to secure a place in Sunday's final.

The world number one, chasing a 63rd career title and a 44th on clay, and ended the world number 45's best run at a Masters event.

Nadal broke his compatriot's serve in the opening game at the Magic Box arena, but Bautista fought back to level at 3-3 before immediately losing his serve again.

But Nadal, who will be contesting his 90th career final on Sunday, broke his opponent's serve for the fifth time in the ninth game and sealed victory on his first match point with a rasping forehand down the line.

He'll now face Japan's Kei Nishikori who reached the final of the Madrid Open after he beat David Ferrer 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-3.

Nishikori reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final despite Ferrer leading 5-2 in the tie-break.

And he looked on course for victory in the second set when he had his first match point at 4-5 on the Ferrer serve, but the Spaniard saved it with an ace and went on to break and save two break points on his own serve to see out the set.

Nishikori went on to claim victory though and has now won 14 matches in succession - including 10 in a row on clay - and will rise to ninth in the world rankings next week, making him the first Japanese player to break the ATP top 10.