Nadal, Federer meet again to decide Madrid Masters crown

The Spanish king of clay made another agonizing and heroic stand, saving three match points in a four-hour semifinal marathon to beat gallant Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (11/9).

The epic clash, which stretched deep into the evening, preceded Federer’s silky smooth 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, which finished in less time than one of Nadal’s sets.

World no. 1 Nadal, the winner of his last 33 claycourt contests, stretching back a year, confessed that his troublesome knees are a concern as he bids for his fourth straight clay title this spring.

Nadal stands a formidable 13-6 over Federer, winning five of their last six meetings including the Grand Slam finals in Paris, Wimbledon and Melbourne.

Federer dominated Del Potro in a tidy win in stark contrast to the Nadal-Djokovic rollercoaster.

The 13-time Grand Slam winner is still seeking his first title of the season, but is looking forward to the final.

Nadal came through on his second match point to claim his third win in a month over the third-seeded Djokovic at the Masters level after the Monte Carlo and Rome finals.

Nadal, who has not been beaten on clay since May 2008, in Rome, wrapped up the semifinal on his second match point to leave Djokovic physically and mentally shattered.

Djokovic, who would have reclaimed his world number three spot from Andy Murray, which he lost only last week, had he reached the final added: "I hope I’ll be ready for the French Open."

Djokovic showed he meant business after his recent losses to Nadal, earning the first break of the match in the second game off a double-fault.

The Serbian third seed kept up the attack on the world number one, reaching 4-1 on his way to the early lead.

But after losing his first set of the tournament, Nadal was in no mood for more home disappointment, saving two break points in the ninth game of the second for a 5-4 lead, eventually squaring the match with a tie breaker.

The third set only lifted the tension as Djokovic broke in the fourth game only to hand the advantage straight back in the fifth.

The final-set tie breaker provided all the drama possible for the sellout crowd of 15,000 as both men grappled for the win in the last tune-up before Roland Garros which starts on May 24.

Nadal has now reached his fourth claycourt final of the spring and took his career record over Djokovic to 14-4. The Spaniard improved to 19-0 on clay in 2009 and 150-4 since 2005. He lost his only clay semi-final out of 28 played back in 2003 as a teenager at Umag in Croatia. link...