Andy Murray during the semi-final tie against David Ferrer, in Tokyo, on Saturday. (Reuters)

Tokyo: Noodle fiend Rafael Nadal overpowered American Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-1 behind a dizzying flurry of baseline winners to reach the final of the Japan Open on Saturday.

The defending Tokyo champion will meet Britain’s Andy Murray on Sunday after the second seed thrashed Nadal’s Davis Cup team mate David Ferrer 6-2 6-3.

“I played closer to the baseline and did a lot of things better today,” Nadal said. “I felt when I had chances I was ready to attack.”

Nadal has been spotted slurping instant noodles before and after his matches in Tokyo and slipping freebies into his racquet bag before going back to his hotel.

But the 10-times Grand Slam champion insisted his diet was healthier than that.

“It’s not just noodles,” he said after overtaking world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for most match wins this year with his 65th. “I’ve had teppanyaki, I’ve been to the fish market. Whatever country in the world we play in we always look for Japanese food.

Nadal predictably cranked up the pressure at 5-5 in the first set, a bullet return forcing the break as fourth seed Fish dumped a backhand into the net. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since helping his country reach the Davis Cup final last month, toyed with Fish in the second.

Nadal raced to a 4-0 lead in brilliant sunshine and a tormented Fish slammed his racquet to the court in frustration after going 5-1 down.

The end came swiftly for Fish, Nadal teeing up match point with an astonishing running forehand down the line to underline the gulf in class between the players.

The final point summed up Fish’s day, the American embarrassingly framing an attempted Pete Sampras-style leaping smash into the bottom of the net after a decent first serve. “Anytime you lose the first set 7-5, it’s painful,” Nadal stated. “At the beginning of the second set I was solid and he made some mistakes. I played better and he played worse.”

“Rafa played very well today and the first set was pretty high quality,” Fish said. “It could have gone either way as far as the end of the (first) set, but he picked up his game and broke me at 5-5 and the second set got away from me really quickly.” Nadal has a chance of being the first man to defend the Japan Open title since Pete Sampras in 1994.

Murray, coming off his third title of the season in Bangkok last week, looked razor-sharp in shooting down Ferrer to set up a dream final for tournament organisers.

Nadal holds a 13-4 advantage over Murray in 17 career meetings, including victories in the last five matches. Murray’s last victory over Nadal came last year in the semifinals in Toronto.

“I tried to be aggressive off the first ball of the rally and not let him dictate too many points off my serve,” said the Scot. “I played smart and was hitting the ball very clean from the back of the court. It should be a great final against Rafa. He’s always tough.”