Imperious Federer crushes Nalbandian to make Madrid final

MADRID, Oct 21 (Reuters) World number one Roger Federer continued his smooth progress towards his 10th title of the year with an crushing 6-4 6-0 victory over fourth seed David Nalbandian in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters today.

The 25-year-old Swiss overwhelmed the Argentine with his usual brand of precision tennis to reach his 14th final of the year and notch up his seventh win in the last eight meetings between the two players.

Nalbandian looked jaded after two tough three-set matches on his way to the semi-finals and was never able to match the top seed who took his winning streak to 18 matches.

Federer will face the winner of the other semi-final between Czech number one Tomas Berdych and 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in tomorrow's final.

REUTERS PM BD1818