Nadal chases Federer haul
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ByEurosport
Published 22/10/2005 at 13:59 GMT
The Madrid Masters will come down to a showdown between two of the players of the season on Sunday. Should Rafael Nadal beat Ivan Ljubicic in the final, the Spaniard would equal Roger Federer's haul of four Masters Series titles but will be wary of Ljubic
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In the absence of the Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, Federer, all the talk had centred on Nadal at the beginning of the week.
Reports insisted the 19-year-old was suffering from knee tendonitis but the French Open winner quickly silenced the doubters.
Once again at the Casa de Campo, Nadal battled through another tricky test.
Fierce resistance came from Robby Ginepri, the recent U.S. Open semi-finalist. For all the 22-year-old American's endeavour, Nadal proved too consistent recording a 7-5 7-6 (7-1) victory for a place in a fifth Masters Series final of 2005.
The victory was his 78th of the year, one more than Federer and the most by a teenager since Mats Wilander won 82 matches in 1983.
Afterwards Nadal expressed his delight at making another final, saying it was "even more special to do it here in Madrid in front of my fans."
While Croatia's eighth seed Ljubicic defeated fifth-ranked David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the second semi-final, Ljubicic recognises the daunting task he has to beat Nadal on home soil.
Ljubicic, who arrived in the Spanish capital after back-to-back titles in Metz and Vienna, said: "I know everyone will be against me tomorrow but I'm going to make sure I enjoy the match and hopefully I'll win."
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