Andy Murray will take on Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s (May 10) Spanish Open final after the Briton eased past Kei Nishikori, claiming a 6-3 6-4 win in an hour and 37 minutes.

– Madrid Open: Rafael Nadal eases into seventh Madrid final
– Madrid Open: Kvitova thrashes Kuznetsova to claim title
– Down the line: Novak skipping Madrid not end of the world

The first two games went with serve and while Murray earned a break point at 30-40 in the third, Nishikori was able to see off the danger.

The Japanese had a chance for a break of his own in the sixth game but Murray was able to see that off and took the next game to open a 4-3 lead.

The Scot held in the next game and then broke his opponent again to take the opening set in 45 minutes. And he made it four games in a row at the start of the second before Nishikori at last got back on the board and then earned himself a break point on the next Murray serve.

Murray saw off that break point but could not hold out for a second and all of a sudden Nishikori led 2-1 in the set. He could not maintain that momentum, though, and Murray levelled things up at the second time of asking in the next game.

The next five games went with serve, although Nishikori had to see off a break point in the eighth, and he could not repeat the feat in the 10th as Murray closed out the win.

“I’ve lost some tough matches against the best players on clay where I felt like I played well, but it’s nice to get a win like that under my belt with the French Open just a couple of weeks away,” Murray said.