Nadal sets up Murray final

Andy Murray will face world number one Rafael Nadal in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after the Spaniard edged Andy Roddick 6-4 7-6 (7/4).

In a tight encounter between the pair, Roddick pushed Nadal all the way, firing nine aces and winning 76% of first serve points.

Nadal broke the American’s serve in the seventh game to claim the decisive break of the opening set but met more resistance in the second.

He managed to break Roddick’s serve twice but was unable to hold his own while serving for the match at 5-4.

But once the match reached the tie-break, Nadal stepped up his game to return to the final for the first time since he won the tournament in 2007.

The final will now be a replay of last month’s Rotterdam final, which saw Murray beat Nadal for the second time in 2009.

“I had to play well since Andy was going strong in the second set,” said Nadal. “He’s had a good start to the season.

“Against Murray it will be interesting, he’s playing well and has had some good results this year.”

Earlier in the day, Murray continued his fine record against Roger Federer with a 6-3 4-6 6-1 triumph over the former world number one to advance to the final.

The first four games went with serve until Murray made the breakthrough in the fifth, which proved to be enough for the world number four to take the set.

Federer cut a forlorn figure at the end of the first set but stepped up his returns and his formidable forehand in the second.

Aided by a double fault, the Swiss responded by breaking the Scot’s serve in the opening game of the second set.

Murray clawed his way back by breaking Federer to level matters at 2-2 but the former Wimbledon champion again assumed the advantage with another break in the seventh to go 4-3 up.

The 27-year-old saw out the remainder of the set with relative comfort to ensure the match would go the distance.

Murray let out a shriek of pain when he fell awkwardly midway through the fourth game of the third set but picked himself up and, following a couple of unforced errors from Federer, broke the world number two’s serve to establish a 3-1 cushion.

And from there the Briton did not look back, breaking the Federer serve again and then – on his fourth match point – completing victory to improve his record against his rival to six wins in eight meetings.

“Every time I play Roger, I feel like I’ve got a shot to win,” Murray told reporters. “That’s one of my best wins against him for sure.”

Referring to his fall, Murray said: “I got a little bit scared at first. Once I got up and ran around after a couple points, I knew that it felt okay.”

Looking forward to the final, Murray added: “I have started to play better against Nadal lately. He’s obviously one of the toughest players ever. I have to play some of my best tennis.”