Wawrinka was able to end the 10-time grand-slam champion’s incredible run of winning 29 sets in a row – a streak stretching back to the US Open final – but that proved to be a false dawn as the defending champion again proved he is a cut above.
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Novak Djokovic’s serve suffered a second-set malfunction in his third round match against Gilles Simon at the Paris Masters but stayed on course for a third consecutive title at Bercy with a 6-3 7-5 victory on Thursday.
Wawrinka sent Nadal packing 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (9/7), the Swiss having defeated Djokovic the last time the two men met in Paris in the French Open final in June.
Andy Murray beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet to reach his first Paris Masters semi-final on Friday.
Murray was forced on to the back foot in the second set and managed only six winners, compared to 20 in the opener, as Gasquet levelled. It was a bit stiff when I got up, but I spent a couple of hours with the physio this morning and that helped.
“It’s maybe not going to be the same as Davis Cup, but it’s pretty good practice for that”.
Wawrinka has now beaten Nadal is three of their last four meetings after losing their first 12 matches.
“It’s always a special kind of challenge because we have the rivalry that goes back for a long time”, Djokovic said of Murray.
His form has picked up since slumping to 10th in the world rankings in June, but the 14-time Grand Slam champion still seemed affected by nerves, failing to capitalize on a 5-3 lead and then set points at 6-5 and 8-7 up in the first-set tiebreaker.
“I was waiting for him to make mistakes and he didn’t”, Ferrer said. On clay, in Ghent and in front of a home crowd, Goffin ought to put up a better display than the lame and listless effort he produced yesterday as he was pasted 6-1, 6-0 but Murray cannot help but go into the final with his confidence high and his game plan set. He had earlier received massage treatment on his right arm after the first game of the first set.
In contrast, Murray was clinical and he sealed the crucial break in the ninth game and held his nerve to take the set.
Five times previously Murray had fallen in the quarter-finals of the ATP’s regular season finale.
The Scot finished a superb exchange at the net with a fine sliced lob to set up two set points and on the first one Ferrer netted a routine backhand.
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The result means Djokovic and Murray will renew their rivalry again with a blockbuster showdown in store with both players now playing their best tennis in Paris.
