Novak Djokovic to meet Rafael Nadal in China Open final

World No.8 Rafael Nadal reached the final of the China Open, beating Italy's Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-3 here on Saturday.

Beijing: World No.1 Novak Djokovic will face No.8 Rafael Nadal in a blockbuster final at the China Open after beating David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 here on Saturday in the semi-finals.

Spaniard Nadal leads 23-21 in their head to head meetings, but it is Djokovic who has prevailed in six of their past seven contests. Djokovic is also on a 28-match winning streak at the venue and in the 2013 final here beat Nadal to clinch the title.

Nadal reached the final earlier on Saturday, beating Italy's Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-3.

Djokovic has won 25 successive sets in Beijing and delivered another superb performance to beat Ferrer in 74 minutes.

Djokovic lost serve for the first time this week in the first set, but won 57 percent of points on Ferrer’s serve as he broke the Spaniard three times to seal the opener.

There was just one more blip for Djokovic as he was broken when serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set - making Ferrer the first player this week to get more than two games in a set against the Serb.

But Djokovic was swiftly back in control and broke Ferrer in the following game to claim his 67th victory of the season.