Nadal beats Berdych to reach Miami Open tennis final

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Spaniard Rafael Nadal reached the final of the ATP Masters Series Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament with a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych on Friday.

Nadal, the reigning French Open champion, battled through a grueling opening, needing seven set points to close out the 73-minute first set before advancing into a much easier second set.

His reward will be a final clash on Sunday against the winner of a later semi-final between the sixth seed Andy Roddick from America and Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Nadal, seeking 590,000 dollars top prize and his first title of the year, improved to 3-3 lifetime against Berdych.

Roddick stunned world number one Roger Federer in the quarter-finals Thursday, taking only his second victory in 17 career meetings with the Swiss superstar.