DOHA: Rafael Nadal advanced to the 99th final of his career on Friday at the Qatar Open.

The second-seeded Spaniard, who has won 67 titles, including 14 majors, beat Illya Marchenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 in 78 minutes.

Nadal will face either top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia or third-seeded Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the final — his first on a hard court since he won the 2014 Qatar Open title.

Nadal opened up a 3-0 lead in the first set, which he won in 35 minutes. With a string of winners, Marchenko recovered from 15/40 in the opening game of the second set, but Nadal soon applied the pressure and broke to love for a 3-2 advantage.

Marchenko defeated defending champion David Ferrer in the first round and overcame No. 7 seed Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals.

Formidable Murray too strong for Zverev in Perth

Briton Andy Murray showed no signs of a thigh injury as he dispatched German teenager Alexander Zverev in the punishing Perth heat at the Hopman Cup on Friday.

The world No. 2 had spoken of soreness in his right thigh during Wednesday’s loss to Australian Nick Kyrgios at the mixed team event but his movement was sharp as he picked apart Zverev 6-3 6-4.

Murray also teamed up to win a mixed doubles with Heather Watson, who beat Sabine Lisicki in straight sets, but it was not enough to clinch a place in the final as Australia Green, one of two teams from the host nation, beat France.

Four-times Australian Open runner-up Murray wore down his 83rd ranked opponent by keeping him on the move and targeted the German’s inconsistent forehand to secure an early break in each set.

Zverev, though, refused to balk and continued to try and push Murray. The young German pulled back a break in the eight game of the second set after an error-strewn game by the Scot but Murray recovered to seal on his next service game after a big serve down the middle.

Ever the perfectionist, Murray said he had more work to do before the Australian Open gets underway on Jan. 18 in Melbourne.

“I started missing a few balls and dropping a few short and he was able to dictate some of the points at the end so something I need to do a bit better,” the 28-year-old said in an courtside interview.

“I feel fine, it’s great to get matches in, nice to play during the day to get used to the hot weather. Hopefully it’s not that bad in Melbourne.”

Australia Green, featuring Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova, face Ukraine in the final.