Intro:

Andy Murray beats Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-4 on Saturday (9 May), to set up a Madrid Open final against clay king Rafael Nadal.

Script:

Andy Murray will take on Rafael Nadal in the final of the Madrid Open on Sunday after maintaining his recent form on clay against Kei Nishikori on Saturday.

The first two games went with serve and while Murray earned a break point at 30-40 in the third, Nishikori was able to see off the danger.

Murray saw off that break point, but could not hold out for a second and all of a sudden Nishikori led 2-1 in the set.

He was unable to maintain that momentum, though, and Murray levelled at the second time of asking in the next game.

The next five games went with serve, although Nishikori had to see off a break point in the eighth, and he could not repeat the feat in the 10th as Murray closed out the win.

The second seed claimed a 6-3 6-4 win in an hour and 37 minutes as he looks to follow up on his first clay title at the BMW Open in Munich last week.

But to do that he will have to get past home favourite and clay master Nadal, who beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in their semi-final.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Andy Murray, second seed:

"I think today I was pretty aggressive. Tried to dictate a lot of the points, especially when he was serving and it worked well."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Andy Murray, second seed:

"I know if I need to win tomorrow, or if I want to win tomorrow I'm going to have to play extremely well and hit the ball as clean as I did today. Against Rafa on this surface it's tough because of the spin he puts on the ball."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Rafael Nadal, third seed:

"Two weeks ago I felt that I didn't improve much from Australia. Just a little bit. But now is different. The sport changes quickly with some good moments. The important thing is to work enough and be ready to catch those opportunities. For the last couple of days I have been playing better and better every day."