TENNIS WORLD

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal overcame a semifinal challenge against British No. 1 Andy Murray 7-6(2), 6-3 on Saturday at the Rogers Masters in Toronto to advance to his fifth consecutive final and continue his march towards the World No. 1 ranking.
Nadal entered Saturday's match unbeaten in four matches against Murray, and succeeded in taking the early lead after the Brit double-faulted at set point in the tie-break.
The World No. 9 put pressure on Nadal in the opening game of the second set as he earned the first break point of the match, but could not capitalize on his two chances. After the players traded breaks of serve in the fourth and fifth games, Nadal earned his chance to serve out the match after breaking Murray to go up 5-3. Murray forced deuce as he fought to save the first two match points, but Nadal clinched the win in two hours and two minute on his third chance when the Brit returned a backhand into the net.
"I am very happy about how I am playing first tournament on hard [courts]," said Nadal. "I am doing well, so I am very happy for be in the final. It's very important to start the hard season like this."
Nadal will take a 28-match winning streak into his match against unseeded German Nicolas Kiefer, who advanced to his first career ATP Masters Series final by defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon earlier Saturday. Nadal has a 3-0 lifetime record against Kiefer, with all their previous meetings coming this year.
Should Nadal defeat Kiefer in the final, he would have the chance next week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to dethrone Federer, who has held top spot in the South African Airways Rankings for 234 consecutive weeks (since February 2004). Nadal is 770 points behind Federer this week but would cut that lead to 300 points should he win the Rogers Cup, which he did in Montreal in 2005.
"He's a very aggressive player," Nadal said about his final opponent. "Very good serve. He's going good to the volley. He has a powerful forehand when he plays aggressive. He has not bad control, very good control with the backhand. So I am going to try to play an aggressive match. I'm going to try to play inside the court and try to move him because he didn't play as comfortable as he wants."
Nadal will be looking to win his 30th career ATP title (29-8 final record), and his sixth of the season. He won at Masters Series Monte-Carlo and Barcelona in April, and coming into Toronto, had won four straight titles at Masters Series Hamburg, Roland Garros, Queen's Club and Wimbledon.
The 22-year-old Spaniard has a 60-7 season match record, and has not lost since a second round exit against compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero in May at Masters Series Rome.
Murray was attempting to reach his first career ATP Mastesr Series final, and had reached the semifinals this week with wins over past champion Thomas Johansson, World No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic. The 21-year-old falls to a 30-12 season match record.
Murray said: "He's definitely doing a lot of things better than he was in the past... I think his game, in terms of the way that he hits the ball, hasn't changed a whole a lot. I just think the way that he moves and returns on the quicker courts is much better than it was before. That's why I think he'll be No. 1 in the world soon."
While Nadal could take No. 1 in Cincinnati if he reached the final and Federer suffered an early loss, any change at the top is unlikely to happen before August 18 – two weeks after Cincinnati - due to a calendar shift this season to accommodate the Olympics.
Last year, ATP Masters Series events in Canada and Cincinnati were played two weeks later in the season than they are being played this year. Because points earned by players count towards their rankings for 52 weeks, the 850 points Federer earned last year by reaching the Canada final and winning the Cincinnati title will continue to count towards his ranking during the same Masters Series tournaments this year.
Come August 18, those 850 points will no longer count towards Federer's ranking. In contrast, Nadal will drop 230 points (225 points for reaching the Rogers Cup semifinals in 2007 and five points for losing his first match in Cincinnati in 2007.)
Federer and Nadal have been No. 1 and 2 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings every week since July 25, 2005 when Nadal became No. 2. Federer has ranked a record 234 consecutive weeks at No. 1 (since Feb. 2, 2004) and Nadal for 157 straight weeks at No. 2.