Nadal, Murray to play in Tokyo Open final

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will meet for the fifth time this year when they play Sunday in the finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. Nadal, the world No. 2-ranked player, defeated fourth-seeded Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-1 and Murray, seeded second with a world No. 4 ranking, ousted No. 3-seeded David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Top 10 pair of semifinals Saturday, Nadal improved to 7-1 lifetime versus Fish without facing a break point. Nadal had one service break in the first set and that put him in the lead. He finished off the match by taking more than two-thirds of the points in the second set. Murray saved the only break chance Ferrer had Saturday and converted four of his six. He landed just 52 percent of his first serves but won all but four of the points in those situations. He won 73 percent of the points overall on serve. Nadal has won all four of his 2011 matches against Murray. All of the matches were tournament semifinals, including a four-set Nadal victory at the U.S. Open. Nadal has built a 13-4 lifetime record versus Murray. Nadal, the defending champion in Tokyo, has three titles this year and was the runner-up -- always to Novak Djokovic -- in six other matches. Murray, looking for his 20th career ATP title, has also won three times this year and finished second once -- at the Australian Open to Djokovic.