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By Matthew Cronin
INDIAN WELLS, California, March 17 - Rafael Nadal
beat Andy Roddick 6-4 6-3 and Novak Djokovic overwhelmed Andy
Murray 6-2 6-3 to reach the Pacific Life Open final on
Saturday.
The 20-year-old Nadal will play Serb Djokovic in his first
final since losing to world number one Roger Federer at
Wimbledon last year.
Djokovic, seeded 12th, beat fellow 19-year-old Murray, the
13th-seeded Briton who was clearly struggling with the ankle
injury he sustained in his quarter-final against Tommy Haas.
Spaniard Nadal was near perfect in his semi-final against
Roddick, ripping 33 winners and committing only 12 unforced
errors.
"I played a very complete match," the second seed told
reporters. "It's the best match of my season.
"I was saying before the tournament I was in my best moment
of the season and the best moment from the last six months.
He's one of the best players in the world so that's a very good
win for me."
American Roddick made little headway despite cracking 16
aces.
"He's tough," said the third seed. "It's no secret he moves
well and when he's playing aggressively and clicking...you know
it's why he's become the player he's become.
"He picked a couple of balls off his shoes running in for
the forehand and crushed them up the line. When he hits passes
like that it makes it real difficult."
NOSE-DIVED
Nadal's form nose-dived after last year's Wimbledon final,
reaching only two semis before this week's event.
"When I have watched him in the last six months, he has
been playing a little bit more defensive," Roddick said.
"Today he came out and played super-aggressive, got great
depth. I never felt comfortable."
Djokovic's win over Murray guaranteed him a place in the
top 10 when the new world rankings are released on Monday but
the Briton said it may have been a mistake to play the match.
"I didn't know how I was going to feel really till I got on
court," said Murray, who also bruised his hip and knee when he
fell during the match against Haas. "And I made a bit of an
unprofessional decision to have gone on.
"I guess the older you get, the more you learn that it's
not always about just going. I wanted to go out and try and
play and maybe see if I could move okay.
"Then after the first couple of games, I kind of realised,
that when you can't change direction, and when the movement,
which is generally the best part of your game, is missing, it's
quite hard to play. I was a little bit scared to move."
Murray will reach a career-high number 12 when the rankings
are released and hopes to be in better shape when he plays in
Miami next week.
"I want to get ready for that and give 110 percent there,"
he said. "I hope that I'm going to be okay to play, but I'm 90
percent sure I should be fine."
Djokovic will be the first Serbian man to reach the top 10.
"It means a lot in our country because we've never had a
big tennis tradition," Djokovic said.