ANDY MURRAY, NOVAK DJOKOVIC REACH FINAL IN MADRID OPEN

MADRID — Continuing to impress on clay ahead of the French Open, Andy Murray defeated Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-4 to reach his second straight Madrid Open final on Saturday.

Murray, who saved 11 break points to win a rematch of last year’s final, will play the decider against top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who defeated No. 6 Kei Nishikori 6-3-7-6 (4) in the other semifinal. Murray needs to successfully defend his title on Sunday to avoid being surpassed by Roger Federer for the No. 2 ranking.

In the women’s final, Simona Halep of Romania swept past Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4 to win her 12th career title and guarantee her return into the Top 5 rankings.