HAMBURG: Top seed Rafael Nadal won through to the final of the claycourt tournament in Hamburg on Saturday with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 semifinal win against Andreas Seppi of Italy.

Nadal, 29, will meet another Italian in Sunday’s final, with 32nd-ranked Fabio Fognini beating French youngster Lucas Pouille 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in the other last-four showdown.

Fognini, seeded eighth, is a familiar foe for the Spaniard, having already beaten Nadal twice this season in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

For Nadal, it will be the 96th final of his career and his third in Hamburg, where he last won the title in 2008 by beating Roger Federer.

“I will try to keep playing well and enjoy today’s victory,” said Nadal, who has endured a tough 2015 in which he has lost his French Open title and slumped to his lowest ranking in a decade.

“These are important points for me — 300 points for my goal of qualifying for the World Tour Finals is important. Matches like today help to bring you your confidence and your motivation for what you are doing.”

Nadal, the world number 10, is now 25-6 on clay this season, and will on Sunday look to extend his streak of having won at least one European claycourt title every year since 2004.

“From the beginning I played great, since the first game that I hit a few winners,” Nadal told www.atpworldtour.com.

“I was very comfortable on court today, feeling the ball well, with topspin to his backhand and then changing to his forehand down the line — a very important shot for me. In general it was a very positive match.

“Every victory is important. And this year with the up and downs that I’ve had, obviously every improvement is important. I played at a very high level.

“I’m very happy for that, playing with not many mistakes, very well with my backhand, very well with my forehand, hitting winners, changing speeds, changing directions. I think I played a great match.”

Isner into Atlanta semis

Top-seeded John Isner kept his bid for a third straight ATP Atlanta Open crown on track on Friday, booking a semifinal clash with fellow American Denis Kudla.

Isner needed one hour and 21 minutes to get past Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

A day after his 33-ace outburst against Radek Stepanek, Isner blasted 19 aces and converted his lone break chance against Berankis.

He booked a first career meeting against Kudla, a qualifier who defeated Israel’s Dudi Sela 7-5, 6-0.

The other semifinal will pit fifth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis against seventh-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.

Baghdatis upended second-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to reach his third semifinal of the season while Muller dispatched Japan’s Go Soeda 7-5, 6-1.

Isner said he was expecting a tough match against Kudla, who as a qualifier has won five matches in six days to reach his first ATP semifinal.

Kudla converted six of 11 break chances against Sela to wrap up the win in just 61 minutes.

“He’s very solid,” Isner said of his 22-year-old compatriot. “He returns really well. He’s quick. The best part of his game is that he stays very composed out there and doesn’t let things rattle him too much. It’s paying dividends.

“He’s working really hard and he’s very young too, so he’s got a great future ahead of him. Me being the elder statesman tomorrow, I need to show him no mercy.”