Two-time Indian Wells champion Rafael Nadal reached his fourth BNP Paribas Open final on Saturday after beating sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5. Nadal now has won his past 12 straight matches against the Czech player. Should Nadal win the title on Sunday, he will notch his 600th career match win on the ATP Tour.
“Today I was very nervous at the end of the match and was lucky that my serve worked amazing in the last game in the important moments,” said Nadal. “There are some things that you need to adjust, and victories like today helps [me] a lot for [my] confidence.”
Nadal is now on a 13-match win streak and has made a successful comeback so far on tour. He reached the final on his first tournament this year in Chile and went on to win two consecutive titles in Sao Paulo and Acapulco.
“Coming back is certainly something amazing for me, totally unexpected, and I received more support than ever from the crowd every place that I played,” Nadal said. “That’s always a very, very special feeling. Thank you very much [to] all the people.”
The loss means that Berdych remains without title this season. However, he’s posted impressive finishes so far in 2013 with final appearances in Marseille and Dubai.
“It was a good tournament. I beat a couple of good guys and I had a good run,” Berdych said.
Nadal will face Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in the final.
