Nadal cruises into final

Rafael Nadal made sure of his place in the Madrid Open final by beating wild card Pablo Andujar in straight sets.

The 11-time grand slam winner posted a 6-0 6-4 victory to reach his seventh final in as many tournaments this year.

Nadal is bidding to win his third Madrid title and will face either Stanislas Wawrinka in the showpiece after Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych.

Nadal ran away with the opening set against Andujar, winning 88 per cent of his first serves in a one-sided contest.

Andujar settled better in the second set, improving his service game and carving out three break-point opportunities, although he was not able to capitalise.

That proved costly and Nadal gained the crucial break in game eight when Andujar hit a weak forehand into the net. That left the fifth seed serving for the match and he wrapped things up after one hour and 17 minutes with a cross-court forehand.

Wawrinka upset sixth-seed Tomas Berdych 6-3 4-6 6-4 in almost two hours on court.

Berdych paid the price for a slow start when he was broken in the opening game and then gifted two more break points to his Swiss opponent in game eight. The Czech saved the first with an ace but then undid his hard work by double-faulting to hand the 15th seed the first set.

A single break in game nine of the second set was all it needed for Berdych to pull level at one-set all, and he looked to be on course for the final when he went a break up in the fifth game of the decider.

However, a forehand into the net from the sixth seed allowed Wawrinka to break back in game eight and another error on Berdych's next service game handed the Swiss the match.