Nadal beats Del Potro

The Spanish number one seed recovered from 4-1 down in the opening set to roar back and beat the lofty Argentine 6-4 6-4.

Left-hander Nadal, covering the court with his customary lightning speed, broke his opponent three times in a high-quality encounter at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to win in one hour 51 minutes.

Nadal, champion here in 2007 and 2009, ended a three-match losing streak against Del Potro who had won their previous encounter 6-2 6-2 6-2 in the semi-finals of the 2009 US Open.

After a cagey start Nadal overcame nerves and his own reckless shot-making to cruise past Del Potro, who himself is recovering from long-term injury.

Del Potro raced to an early lead in the first set but was hauled back by Nadal before the world number one showed his class to close out a tight second set.

A whipping top-spin forehand winner set up a first match point for the Spaniard who, serving at 40-0, immediately converted when the towering Argentine sent a backhand service return long."I played my best match in Indian Wells this year by far," the 24-year-old Nadal said after improving his win-loss record this season to 14-2. "I needed a match like this to get the right rhythm and right feeling.

"To be in the Indian Wells final is a very big personal satisfaction for me and gives me a lot of motivation. For me, the motivation is not the opponent; it is the tournament."

Nadal, the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion, will now face Novak Djokovic, who beat Roger Federer in the other semi-final.

He has a 16-7 career record over Djokovic and has beaten the Serb in their last two meetings.

"We know each other 100 per cent," the Mallorcan said.

"These kinds of matches always are the same. The player who has better inspiration that day is the player who is gonna have better chances to win."