Nadal to face Murray in Japan Open final

TOKYO: Defending champion Rafael Nadal picked apart American number one Mardy Fish’s serve-and-volley game on Saturday to set up a a hotly anticipated final against Andy Murray at the Japan Open.

The world number two from Spain, playing his first ATP tournament since defeat in the US Open final last month, relied on his powerful baseline game to score a 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Second seeded Murray, fresh from victory at the Thailand Open a week ago, breezed by 2007 champion David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3.
The decisive point came in the 11th game of the first set which had until then gone with serve and was poised at 5-5.
Fish saved the first break point of the match with a winner from a backhand approach, but his stroke on Nadal’s next advantage point was short, allowing the Spaniard to batter a forehand winner beyond him for 6-5.
It was enough for Nadal to take the first set. He then took the following five games as the American’s resolve deserted him.
The match ended with another break when American fourth seed hit an easy forehand high volley into the net at 30-40 in the seventh game.
The 25-year-old Nadal, who did not face a break point in the 95-minute match, stretched his record against Fish to seven wins against one defeat.