ATP News : 2005


Nadal in the way as Ljubicic aims to extend in Madrid final

Madrid (dpa) - Rafael Nadal plans to stop the winning run of Croatian Ivan Ljubicic when the pair of streaking players meet Sunday for the title at the Masters Series Madrid.

Spain's top-seeded French Open champion produced a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) victory over Robby Ginepri to nudge past Roger Federer in the season victory stakes 78 wins to 77 for the injured Swiss, out of action for the next few weeks. Teenaged Nadal spent one hour, 41 minutes, fending off a dozen aces from the American but profited from 35 unforced errors from the 16th seed.

Ljubicic extended a winning roll to 16 straight matches with his victory over Argentinian David Nalbandian 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The Croatian comes into his third final in as many weeks after having lifted back-to-back trophies in Metz and Vienna this month.

"I expect a lot of balls back and a very long match," Ljubicic said of the final. "There will be a lot of people against me, it will be a Davis Cup atmosphere. I'm happy to be in the final. I have a good record against the Spanish guy, I'm prepared to run a lot.

Nadal would pull level with Federer on 11 titles in 2005 if he wins the final in only his second participation at the home indoor tournament. The local tennis hero also has the chance to collect a fourth Masters Series trophy in 2005 - the same as Federer - if he claims the title.

He admitted that the knee is feeling a bit tender. "At the beginning of the match, I was feeling a bit tired. Now that it's over, my knee is hurting a bit. I hope it's nothing."

Nadal couldn't hide his excitement at the chance for more success. "It's something special to be in a Masters Series final - especially in Madrid. That was one of my goals for this year, Madrid and Shanghai.

"For the moment, I'm here. No matter what happens, this has been a good event for me - now it's better. I hope I can win."

In both sets against Ginepri, Nadal had to recover after losing a break. But he managed nicely, tying up any loose ends in a storming tiebreaker which left Ginepri wondering what went wrong.

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