Djokovic sets up Nadal showdown

BEIJING: Novak Djokovic brushed off David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the China Open final, where old rival Rafael Nadal stands between the Serb and a sixth title in Beijing.
Top-ranked Djokovic suffered the inconvenience of having his service broken for the first time at this year’s tournament but he still raced to his 28th win at an event where he is yet to be beaten.
In the women’s semis, established names fell to rising stars as Garbine Muguruza beat Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Timea Bacsinszky knocked out Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
And on a cold day in Beijing, Nadal stared down his nemesis Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 to reach his first hardcourt final this year as he searches to recover the form which brought him 14 Grand Slam titles.
Eighth-ranked Nadal, stopped at his beloved French Open by Djokovic this year, self-effacingly said the world number one was now a class apart despite his winning record of 23-21 in their head-to-head.
“I know today Novak is not in my league, it’s a different level from me this year,” Nadal said.
Ten-time major-winner Djokovic had been irresistible in his run to the semi-finals, dropping only nine games thus far and he soon had Ferrer gasping with two breaks of serve to go 4-1 ahead in the first set.
Ferrer, who won his 25th career title last week in Kuala Lumpur, conjured a break of his own but the stung Djokovic broke straight back and finished the set impressively in the next game.
Two more breaks in the second set put Djokovic on his way and despite a mini-implosion, when he double-faulted twice and was broken as he served for the match, a sixth break of the Ferrer serve earned him victory.