Tennis News

Following solid displays in their quarter-final showings, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will meet to determine who will advance to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. Both players are in fine form heading into their fifth overall encounter on the tour. Murray leads the head-to-head series 3-1, yet the Japanese No. 1 won their most recent meeting at the World Tour Finals last season.

Seeded second at this year’s tournament, and with a title to his name on clay heading into the semis, Murray advanced in impressive fashion with a straight sets win against Canada’s Milos Raonic. The Briton hit 19 winners and saved all five of the break points he faced during the match to win the encounter 6-4,7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes.

“I feel like I’ve been moving well,” said Murray. “The first couple of weeks on the clay, I tried to work on it quite a lot in my training block before I started playing the tournaments.

“Because I feel healthy this year, I’m not worrying about my back or worrying about things when I am put in difficult positions on court. That obviously gives me a bit more confidence in the movement.”

In the last match on court that day, Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer met in a rematch of their 2014 meeting in Madrid yet the match could not have been more different. While the outcome was the same, a straight sets win for Kei, it was a far easier meeting this time around. Nishikori dominated the encounter, as he struck 22 winners and converted five break points to earn the victory in one hour and 12 minutes.

This marks the fifth time that Murray and Nishikori will meet on the professional tour with Murray leading the series 3-1. While Murray has performed better historically in this rivalry, it is Nishikori who won their most recent meeting last season at the World Tour Finals and is in fit enough shape to add to that this week in Madrid.

Following their impressive displays on Friday, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will cross paths for the 23rd time on the professional tour to determine who will advance to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. The Nadal vs Berdych head-to-head series stands at 18-4 and the Spaniard held a 17-match win stream dating back to 2006 that was snapped by Berdych during their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open quarter-final.

Six-time champion Rafael Nadal found himself faced with an intriguing obstacle in the form of an inspired Dimitrov during his quarter-final round match on Friday afternoon. While he did lose a break during the second set, he was still able to win the match in straight sets and advance to the following stage of the tournament. He defeated the Bulgarian 6-3,6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes.

“Overall I’m satisfied; I’m happy,” said Nadal. “I have made it to the semi-finals, and I think that’s a great result for me, especially after losing in Barcelona the way I did.

“My goal is [to] feel myself playing better every day. That’s my real goal. Then obviously, the goal is always the same, [to] try to have the [best] result possible.”

In a Herculean effort on court, Tomas Berdych rallied back from a set down and the brink of defeat to save a match point and defeat John Isner in three sets. He won the match 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a match that was clearly decided in the tiebreaks.

“I’m really looking forward [to] that challenge,” Berdych said. “It’s going to be a nice match.”

“Today was really about just a few points, which decided both sets in the tie-breaks,”

This marks the 23nd time that Nadal and Berdych will cross paths on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series 18-4. The Spaniard was on a 17-match win streak against Berdych before the Czech No. 1 snapped that streak recently during the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open. While he now holds the confidence to know he can beat Nadal again, he will have to face the Spaniard on clay, which only