Nadal and Murray to contest Indian Wells final

RAFAEL Nadal admits he'll have to be at his best to beat Andy Murray in the BNP Paribas Open final at Indian Wells.

TOUGH TASK: Andy Murray now faces top seed Rafael Nadal - who he has beaten in their last three encounters (Getty Images)

After Murray tamed former world number one Roger Federer, the top seed edged past Andy Roddick 6-4, 7-6 in his semi-final.

Murray and Nadal played the Rotterdam final last month, with the Scot adding that victory to the one he secured in January over the Spaniard in Doha. The British number one has won their last three meetings - although one of those wins was an exhibition match - dating to the US Open semi-final.

But Nadal still leads their head-to-head statistics 5-2.

Nadal was never in danger against home favourite Roddick, as the top seed struck 29 winners in windy conditions while also breaking three times.

"I had to play well since Andy was going strong in the second set," said Nadal. "He's had a good start to the season.

"Against Murray it will be interesting, he's playing well and has had some good results this year."

Murray - who looked classy in his fourth straight win over Federer - admitted it would be tough.

"I've started to play better against Nadal lately," he said.

"He's obviously one of the toughest players ever. I have to play some of my best tennis."

Meanwhile, Federer claimed that his 46 unforced errors killed his chances against in his semi-final against the world number four.

"I had way too many errors today. In the first set, I struggled with the rhythm, the same thing in the third set," he said.

"You're disappointed a bit, but it was a decent tournament - not the greatest of all time, but it was all right.

"I still had high hopes for today, so I have to look forward. Hopefully I'll play well in Miami."