Rafael Nadal overwhelmed unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the Mercedes Cup final and move to the brink of an eighth clay-court title of the year.
The French Open champion took one hour 26 minutes to clinch his 33rd successive clay-court victory, a result that will take him up to number two in the world behind Roger Federer when the Entry System rankings are updated next week.
Nadal will face Argentine third seed Gaston Gaudio or Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, seeded two, in Sunday's final.
The 19-year-old from Mallorca was in control from the start against Nieminen, stealing a break in the opening game as his opponent clattered a forehand into the net.
Nieminen was just about able to match Nadal for pace, as he went for his shots from the back of the court, but he did not have the Spaniard's accuracy and another misplaced forehand gave Nadal another break and a 3-0 lead.
Nieminen got one break back immediately, clinching the game with a furious two-handed backhand pass down the line, and held his serve for the first time to come back to 2-3.
Nadal calmly held in the next, though, and broke for the third time to move 5-2 up before serving out for the first set in 34 minutes.
Nadal missed two break points at the start of the second set but was handed a third by Nieminen's wild forehand and he took it in style, backing his opponent into a corner with a series of pummelled groundstrokes before coming to the net to make a simple volley.
Nieminen clung on to his serve by the skin of his teeth and threatened an unlikely comeback when he broke as Nadal served for the set in game 10.
The Spaniard broke back immediately, however, and served out to love at the second attempt to seal the win.
