Spaniards Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer will lock horns again in the Monte Carlo Masters final after the claycourt conquistadors sealed contrasting victories in their semi-finals on Saturday. World number one Nadal, who lost to Ferrer at the Australian Open quarter-finals, was pushed hard by injury-hit third seed Andy Murray but won 6-4 2-6 6-1 in a less than vintage display.
"It was a very physically demanding match," Nadal said courtside as he gears up for next month's French Open. Fourth seed Ferrer roared back from a shaky start to cruise through with a 6-3 6-2 win over Roger Federer's quarter-final conqueror Juergen Melzer of Austria.
The Monte Carlo Country Club will host a second successive all-Spanish final fiesta after Nadal set a men's professional era record of winning six titles in a row at the same event by beating Fernando Verdasco here last year. Nadal lost in the final of his last two tournaments to Novak Djokovic but the Serb withdrew from the season's first European claycourt event because of a minor knee injury.
Not even Ferrer would bet against the top seed ending his mini title drought on Sunday. "It's very difficult to beat Nadal of course. He is the best player in history on clay," Ferrer said. Nadal broke for 3-1 in the first set when shaggy-haired Murray, looking exhausted already after facing a barrage of powerful Nadal forehands, sent a booming shot long but the Briton hit back in the seventh game only to lose out in the final game.
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