TORONTO -- Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the final of the Rogers Cup on Saturday and put himself in line for his seventh title of the year.
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He'll face Nicolas Kiefer, who reached the championship match with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Frenchman Gilles Simon in the first semifinal.
Nadal, winner of his first hardcourt title at the Rogers Cup in 2005, won the French Open and Wimbledon this year. He's on a 28-match winning streak.
"You know, he's definitely doing a lot of things better than he was in the past," Murray said of Nadal. "I think he's moving better on hard courts, and I think he's sort of changing the pace of the ball a little bit more and not playing so far behind the baseline like he did in the past.
"That's why I think he'll be No. 1 in the world soon."
First he has to beat Kiefer. In three career meetings, all this year, he's never lost a set to Kiefer.
Kiefer, 31, hasn't won an ATP title since 2000 Hong Kong and hasn't appeared in a final since 2005 St. Petersburg.
"All I can do is go out there and fight," Kiefer said.
Nadal was wary.
"He's a very aggressive player, no?" Nadal said. "Very good serve. He's good going to the volley. He has not bad control, very good control with the backhand.
"I'm going to try to play an aggressive match. I'm going to try to play inside the court and try to move him."
Said Kiefer: "Of course, I have to pick up one more level."
Murray certainly did, but Nadal seemed to use it as motivation to take his own game up a notch.
