Rafael Nadal beats Tomas Berdych to reach Cincinnati Masters for the first time

World number three Rafael Nadal continued to dominate in hardcourt events this season with a tight two-set victory over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters on Saturday 7-5, 7-6. Nadal remains unbeaten in hardcourt matches this season at 14-0 and will now face John Isner of United States in the final on Sunday. The Spaniard is through to his 37th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, and he’s aiming for a record 26th Masters-level title.

“I finished the match playing aggressive with the forehand, with the backhand, and it’s great,” said Nadal. “I think I played a very good match this afternoon against a very difficult opponent who came to this match playing very well, and I have to be very, very happy about everything.”

Despite the semifinal loss, Berdych assured himself to move up the rankings to world number five by next week, a career-high for the Czech player.

“Well, I mean, it’s been a long time actually,” said Berdych. “Finally, it’s there. I mean, I’m really happy for it because really it’s not been but a few weeks, and I was already trying for it like more than two years. It was still far, and now finally, I’m able to do so. But, yeah, that’s another goal which I made. And, again, just gives me extra energy to go more, go forward.”