Nishikori, Nadal to meet in Barcelona Open final

The two players to have dominated the Barcelona Open in recent years, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori, will meet in the final of this year's tournament after securing straight-sets semi-final triumphs.

Nadal, victorious on clay at last week's Monte Carlo Masters, is an eight-time champion in Barcelona, while Nishikori has taken the title in each of the past two seasons.

And the top two seeds proved far too strong for their respective last-four opponents on Saturday, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benoit Paire.

Nishikori produced an impressive attacking display in his 6-3 6-2 triumph over Paire and the Japanese has now won 13 sets in a row in Barcelona.

Paire was ultimately well beaten, but did at least provide a moment for the highlights reel when saving a match point with an outrageous between-the-legs shot at the net.

The second last-four match also went with form, Nadal taking three out of eight break-point opportunities to see off the experienced Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-3.

Nadal won 82 per cent of points behind his own first serve and regularly threatened to break his opponent prior to doing so in successive games to sew up victory.