Nadal breezes into Vina del Mar final

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VINA DEL MAR, Chile, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal continued to look sharp in his return from a long injury layoff Saturday with a semifinal victory at the VTR Open in Chile.

Top-seeded Nadal rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of France's Jeremy Chardy to a gain a spot in Sunday's final against unseeded Horacio Zeballos in Vina del Mar.

The Spanish superstar -- participating in his first ATP Tour event in seven months following a knee injury -- had little trouble with Chardy and now will seek to wrap up a victory in his first appearance since June.

Nadal will be seeking his 37th career clay-court title against world No. 73 Zeballos, who gained the title match with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) semifinal victory over fellow Argentine Carlos Berlocq.

It marks his first finals appearance since the 2009 event in St. Petersburg, where he fell to Serhiy Stakhovsky.