Nadal, Coria advance to China Open finals
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-17 22:34

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-4 Saturday and will play for the China Open title against Guillermo Coria.

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns a shot during his semi-final match against compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing Saturday Sept. 17, 2005. Nadal won 6-4, 6-4. [AP]

Coria, seeded second, defeated fourth-seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Nadal, the French Open champion, dominated from start to finish despite playing two matches Friday to make up for rain postponements. He won when Ferrero hit wide on match point.

Coria also played two matches a day earlier and began slowly.

"I was tired at the start," the Argentine said. "He was making me move a lot, and I was struggling with my reaction time. Luckily, by the end of the match I was able to recover my full speed."

Down 6-4 in the second set, Coria weathered three match points against him and broke back to even the set. He then took the next two games to force a third set. He surged ahead 3-1 and won on the Swede's service game.

"If I had served well at the match points, I would be sitting here the winner," Johansson said. "I had three of them on own my serve and could not convert one of them. ... It's always tough to win a match against Guillermo, because he never gives up."

On Friday, Coria defeated Toshihide Matsui and Mikhail Youzhny. Nadal beat Justin Gimelstob and Peter Wessels.

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