"It means a lot to me" - Nadal following Alcaraz win

The three-time BNP Paribas Open champion reached his fifth final in the California desert with a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over his fellow Spaniard Alcaraz.

Nadal is off to a personal-best 20-0 start to the season with titles at a Melbourne ATP 250, the Australian Open and Acapulco. If the fourth seed defeats Fritz on Sunday, he will tie Novak Djokovic for the most ATP Masters 1000 titles in history with 37.

He said:

"I am super happy to be in the final. It means a lot to me, and I'll just keep going."

He further said:

"I took it like another semi-final match. He's not a young player that is 100 in the world and is coming. He is a top player already, so I treated it like that, playing against one of the best players in the world. It doesn't matter if he's young or not, he's a great guy, an amazing player and he has a fantastic future. I treated it like this, just tried to go on court, try my best and accept all the challenges. I am through and it was a very important victory for me."