Roger Federer looked a player in decline while Rafael Nadal appeared a man at his peak as Nadal reached the Sony Ericsson Open final with a 6-3 6-3 victory in Miami.
It will be the world No. 1 and 2 in the final after Novak Djokovic earlier disposed of Mardy Fish, and those top rankings could not be disputed after No. 3 Federer failed to put up a fight against Nadal in the latest of their 23 career meetings.
And worryingly for Federer fans, the great Swiss looked a beaten man even at times during the match, raising further doubt as to whether the 29-year-old will be able to force his way back into the top two after losing his place to Djokovic last month.
Federer held serve in the first game before Nadal rattled off the next three, and a further break to finish off the set gave the Spaniard the right to serve first in the second.
There Federer mounted his biggest challenge of the match, earning a break point in the first game of the new set but some luck with the net cord helped Nadal save.Nadal went on to hold and then win the next two games, taking a 3-0 lead.
The crowd tried to fire Federer but he did not respond to their urgings, either by gesture or performance, as his unforced error count reached 38 and Nadal grabbed his fourth break to finish it off.
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| Rafael Nadal |
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| Roger Federer |
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