Nadal Closes On Sixth Title Of 2009

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal has a 15-5 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals.

Reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal is one win away from an ATP World Tour-best sixth tour-level title of the season after reaching the final of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 Presented by Rolex.

The Spaniard advanced when countryman Feliciano Lopez retired with a right ankle injury with Nadal leading 6-1, 3-0 Saturday in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

Top seed Nadal takes a 4-2 career lead into the final against Russian Nikolay Davydenko, whom he defeated most recently earlier this season in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell.

“He's playing very well,” assessed Nadal. “I saw his match today against Novak [Djokovic], and he did unbelievable, playing with a lot of rhythm, playing unbelievable winners and very good points at a lot of intensity. So it’s going to be a really tough match, so I will [try to] play my best without making mistakes. If not, it’s going to be impossible. I know that.”

World No. 2 Nadal is looking for his first ATP World Tour title since May. In the first five months of the season, he claimed silverware at the Australian Open (d. Federer), BNP Paribas Open (d. Murray), Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Djokovic), Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (d. Ferrer) and Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic). His last appearance in an ATP World Tour final came at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, when he finished runner-up to Roger Federer.

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Since a fourth-round exit (l. to Soderling) at Roland Garros, though, Nadal’s season has been repeatedly interrupted by first knee injuries and later an abdominal strain. “I'm in the finals, so that's really important and really good news for me,” said Nadal. “It's my first final after my comeback from the injuries. So it's a very good result for me, and I'm very happy.

“Every week it's really important for me. Every week [my] victories improve, improving my confidence, and that's another important result in the final. So, sure, if I win tomorrow, it’s going to be [an] important change for me. I don't know if I am in my best rhythm right now, but I saw the results, and the results are doing well, so that's the good news.”

Nadal and Andy Murray currently lead the ATP World Tour with five titles apiece this season. Nadal has won at least five tour-level titles in each of the past five seasons, excelling in 2005 when he won 11 trophies, including his first Grand Slam championship at Roland Garros (d. Puerta). He has a 36-10 lifetime mark in tour-level finals.

The Spaniard will contest his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the season and will look to win a 16th of the coveted titles, which would place him level with Roger Federer and just one behind all-time title-leader Andre Agassi. 

In his sixth meeting with Lopez, Nadal was largely in control when his fellow left-hander was forced to concede. The Mallorcan had broken serve three times in a rampant first-set performance. Lopez received treatment on his right ankle at the end of the first set, but after going an immediate break down in the second set, could not continue.

“This morning when I woke up, I had an infection in my right foot,” explained Lopez. “It was painful during the match, because of running carefully [and] because of the pain I have in my foot, I twisted my ankle a little bit in the last point of the first set. So I had two problems at the same time. It was much more painful, the ankle, than the infection.”

The No. 41-ranked Lopez was contesting his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season – and his first ever at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament – after a form resurgence this week in Shanghai. The Toledo native had failed to win a tour-level match since June, when he reached the third round at the AEGON Championships in London, and last week had lost to Donald Young in the first round of qualifying for the China Open in Beijing.

“It's not the best way to finish a good week, but in general it was [an] unbelievable week for me,” commented Lopez, who defeated No. 9 seed Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals. “I have to be happy. I'm proud of what I did. To finish like this, playing against Rafa, it's a wonderful match to play. But this is tennis, and I was unlucky and I have nothing to do with it. So if I think about the matches I won during the week, I have to be happy and looking forward to play the next tournament if I'm ready. I'm so happy for the week in general.”