Nadal moves into final

Rafael Nadal moved into the position to become a dual-surface champion at the Stuttgart Open on Saturday with his 6-3, 6-4 grass-court semi-final defeat of Gael Monfils.

Victory in less than 90 minutes on the newly laid grass courts of the pre-Wimbledon event paved a path for Nadal to lift his third in Stuttgart after winning in 2005 and 2007 when the event was played on clay.

The 29-year-old will be bidding for the 66th trophy of his career but only the second this season.

Nadal overcame Monfils on the first of two match points as the French fourth seed sailed a forehand over the baseline.

Unable to find an ace in the contest, Nadal however made no double-faults and saved all four of the break points he faced as he beat Monfils for the 11h time in 13 meetings.

The win was effortless in contrast to the struggles Nadal went through in his first two matches this week, spending a combined five hours on court to win six sets.