April 06, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

MIAMI (Florida), April 5: World No 2 Rafael Nadal will face fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the Sony Ericsson Open final after semi-final victories on Friday.

The Spaniard, who reeled off the last 12 points of the match, beat Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6, 6-2 in windy conditions, while Davydenko beat Andy Roddick of the United States by the same scoreline.

Roddick looked a shade of the player who beat world No 1 Roger Federer on Thursday and gave Davydenko his first victory in their six career matches.

Nadal holds a 2-0 record against Davydenko in their career meetings.

He took 70 minutes to snatch a close-fought opening set, winning the tiebreak 8-6 on his seventh set point after 10th seed Berdych double-faulted for the first time.

The second seed then breezed through the next set.

Roddick and Davydenko produced a high quality first set, but the Russian was the only player able to maintain the intensity in the second.

Roddick took a 2-1 advantage with a service break in the second set, but surrendered the advantage in the next game when he dropped serve.

Davydenko broke again, on his fourth opportunity, with a forehand crosscourt in the sixth game and sealed victory in the eighth when a Roddick forehand dropped into the net.—Reuters