MADRID: Colombian Santiago Giraldo beat Rafael Nadal’s conqueror Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 at the Barcelona Open on Saturday to reach just his second ever ATP final.

Almagro had described his win over Nadal, an eight-time champion in Barcelona, on Friday as possibly a turning point in his career.

However, the Spaniard was unable to find the same form against the world No. 65 as one break in the 11th game was enough to give Giraldo the first set.

The second set was a tale of missed opportunities for Almagro as he could only convert one of five break points and was broken twice himself as Giraldo sealed victory in an hour and 26 minutes.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori will be Giraldo’s opponent in the final as he continued his fine form this season with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

Nishikori, playing for the first time on clay under new coach and former French Open champion Michael Chang, was dominant on serve throughout and never faced a break point on his way to sealing victory.

“I was very happy to see lots of Japanese people congratulating me after the match,” said the world number 17.

“I love coming to Spain to play. There have not been any easy matches. I am playing great and I am particularly pleased with my serve and forehand against (Marin) Cilic (in the quarterfinals) and today.”

Sharapova in Stuttgart final

In Stuttgart, defending champion Maria Sharapova moved to within one victory of her third straight Stuttgart title after a 6-1, 6-2 win over Italy’s Sara Errani in Saturday’s semi-final.

Sharapova, who won the title in 2012 and 2013, needed just under an hour to see off clay-court specialist Errani in what was a repeat of the 2012 French Open final which the Russian also won.

“It’s my first tournament on clay and at the start of the week, I set the goal of improving from match to match,” said Sharapova.

“It went well for me again today.” Sharapova, 27, raced into a 3-0 lead winning eight of the first 10 points and took the first set in just 27 minutes with some powerful groundstrokes.

The Russian picked up where she left off in Friday’s 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal win over world-number three Agnieszka Radwanska and converted six of her eight break points against Errani.

The 26-year-old Italian was never allowed to find her rhythm as Sharapova dominated the second set.

The statuesque Russian, who has never won a tournament three times running, will face the winner of the all-Serbian semifinal between former number ones Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic in Sunday’s final.