Andy Murray reached his first Masters Series final when he beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Cincinnati tournament on Saturday. The 21-year-old Briton, having overcome the giant Croatian who upset Roger Federer on Thursday, will meet Rafael Nadal, poised to become world number one, or third-ranked Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. Murray's semifinal victory guaranteed his rise from world number nine to six, his highest ranking, and increased the chances of achieving his goal of a top-eight seeding at the US Open in three weeks' time. Maintaining the momentum which carried him to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time last month and the semifinals of the Masters Series in Toronto last week, Murray won well against a uniquely difficult opponent. The 2.08-meter Karlovic leads the tour for the second successive year for the number of aces and the number of service games won. Briefly it seemed that Karlovic might build on his career-best success against Federer when he broke the Murray serve at once and reached 2-0. But the canny Scot then found a way to return the tour's best serve. Murray frequently stood more than two meters behind the baseline to receive, but often leaped forward to take the delivery earlier than expected and increased his ability to anticipate its direction as the match progressed. Nadal guaranteed he would become the third Spanish man to top the world rankings with a 7-6, 6-1 victory over Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the quarterfinals Friday. By beating Lapentti, Nadal will end Roger Federer's four-and-a-half-year reign as world number one on Aug. 18 at the latest, or as early as Monday if he takes the Cincinnati title. “It was a tough match,” Nadal said in a courtside interview. “I was a little bit tired, especially after a tough win in Toronto last week. And the weather here is very humid and hot but it is important to be in the semifinals. I am happy because I have been fighting a lot these last three years, although I was happy as number two as I won a lot of tournaments. “But for sure, number one is a goal and I am very happy.” Nadal's win also took him a step closer to a sixth successive tournament triumph, underlining his evolution into a far more adaptable player on all court surfaces rather than his favorite, clay. After ending Federer's five-year winning run at Wimbledon last month, Nadal has maintained his superlative form on the hard courts of North America while his Swiss rival has stumbled to early defeats in the two tournaments he has played since. Should Nadal lose Sunday's final he would top the rankings on Aug. 11 while a semifinal defeat would delay his coronation for another week. The number two seed will face Novak Djokovic in Saturday's semifinal after the Serb battled past unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4. Safina in semis Dinara Safina stormed into the semifinals of the Montreal Cup Friday. Safina rallied past Russian compatriot and world number four Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last four. She will face Victoria Azarenka after the 11th seeded Belarusian ended 17-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek's run with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Stockholm semis postponed The singles semifinal matches at the Stockholm WTA tournament on Saturday were postponed due to rain. Russia's Vera Dushevina will play Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will play Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Sunday.
