(Reuters) - Rafael Nadal made light work of Italian Andreas Seppi to reach the final of the Hamburg Open on Saturday and will now face Fabio Fognini, who is chasing an almost unthinkable third claycourt victory over the Spaniard this season.
Nadal, a 14-times grand slam champion, has endured a difficult year, surrendering his French Open title, suffering a shock defeat by journeyman Dustin Brown at Wimbledon and dropping to number 10 in the rankings.
He has struggled since being sidelined by injury and illness last year and has only two relatively modest titles to his name in 2015 -- Stuttgart and Buenos Aires.