Teen sensation Rafael Nadal reached the final of the Rome Masters on Saturday after battling back from a set down to beat Spanish compatriot David Ferrer. The fifth seed, going for his fifth singles title this year, won a gripping semi-final 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to extend his winning streak to 16 matches and take his clay record for the season to 30-2. Making his first appearance at the Foro Italico, Nadal will face either Andre Agassi or Guillermo Coria in Sunday's final. Nursing a heavily swollen blood blister on the index finger of his left hand, Nadal lacked the fluency that took him to the last four.
But after Ferrer had saved two match points to break for 5-5 in a nail-biting deciding set, Nadal broke to love before serving out the match.
The Rome Masters, a warm-up for the French Open which starts on May 23, is the fourth of nine ATP Masters Series tournaments and one of its three clay court events. There are four tournaments on hard courts and two are indoors.
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