Rafael Nadal Beats Novak Djokovic to Advance to 2017 Madrid Open Finals

Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the final of the 2017 Madrid Open on Saturday and will look to extend his reach as the tournament's most successful player in Sunday's decider.

The home favourite blazed a trail past his semi-final foe and built on a domineering 6-2 first-set victory to reach his eighth Madrid Open final, where he will also seek to add a new all-time record fifth Madrid crown to his collection.

Nadal will face either Dominic Thiem or Pablo Cuevas in Sunday's showdown, with that pair scheduled to clash later on Saturday evening.

Saturday's win was a long time coming for Nadal, as tennis writer David Law illustrated:

The Spaniard wasted little time in taking the fight to second seed Djokovic, who appeared almost dumbfounded at the blistering pace with which his opponent took to their semi-final meeting.

In a fashion almost unbecoming of Djokovic, the world No. 2 surrendered back-to-back breaks of serve at the beginning of their encounter to trail 3-0, and Jose Morgado of Portuguese daily Record noted his profligacy:

Djokovic advanced to the semi after injury forced quarter-final opponent Kei Nishikori to withdraw before their clash, but a lack of match-readiness appeared to inhibit the Serb instead of rejuvenating him. 

Per the official ATP World Tour website, Djokovic won only 22 per cent of the points played on his second serve in the first set, which made for poor reading compared with Nadal's comparative figure of 56 per cent.

After finally finding his feet to get on the board at 4-1 down, Djokovic was in a losing battle to haul the opener back, and Nadal prevented from winning a 16th consecutive set against him, via Tennis TV:

All too aware of the quality opponent opposite him, Nadal knew nothing was won with a set advantage, but the confidence continued to ooze from his play after the restart.

As was the case in the first set, Djokovic conceded a break in the first game of the second, and Law could only marvel at how 2017 has been a year for the resurgent veterans thus far:

Finally, the Spaniard was broken himself and handed Nole a route back into the fixture at 2-2, but a missed backhand attempt down the line saw Djokovic yet again surrender his serve to trail 3-2 in the second set.

While the Serb looked slow and at times sluggish throughout Saturday's fixture, his opponent was the more lively of the two in getting around the court, per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times:

The Madrid crowd roared on their home hero as Djokovic again came upon a strong enough footing to win back-to-back games for the second time in the match, although Nadal would serve the match out at 5-4 up.

The pair warred at deuce, and Nadal defended one break point before tipping the scales back in his favour to seal the win with a fierce forehand Djokovic was unable to return.

The Spaniard let out a triumphant yell as he completed the straight-sets win, and Reem Abulleil of Sport360 hailed his ending of the Djokovic drought:

Clay has always produced the best in Nadal, and Saturday's semi-final was no different as he advanced to Sunday's decider in far more comfortable a fashion than just about anyone will have predicted.

The question now is whether Nadal can live through his own hype to clinch a fifth Madrid Open crown on Sunday, where Thiem or Cuevas could offer a lesser-known threat to the tennis titan.