Defending champion Andy Murray marched into the final of the Madrid Open after defeating home favourite Rafa Nadal for the second successive year. The British world No 2 ended Nadals 13-match unbeaten run on clay after looking back to his best on his favoured surface with victories in Monte Carlo and Barcelona in recent weeks.Murray sealed a devastating 7-5 6-4 success to send him through to Sundays final where he will play Novak Djokovic. Murray broke twice in the opening set to take it and despite squandering a match point at 5-3 in the second he raised his game to get the job done and gain revenge over the Spaniard for his Monte Carlo semi-final defeat last month.Murray fought off a strong challenge by Nadal, serving eight aces and saving 11 break points to win a rematch of last years final and after his victory he told Sky Sports: I think I used my forehand pretty good during the match. I was able to push him back behind the baseline. Murray recorded back-to-back wins over Nadal in the Spanish capital I felt as though I made a lot of returns in play - I didnt make too many mistakes on the return so was able to make him work hard on his service games.Against Rafa, he doesnt serve as hard as everyone else but he puts a lot of pressure on your return because if you dont hit a good one he dictates the points straight away with the forehand. I was able to get some good direction on the forehand and I think that helped me today. Murray celebrates beating home favourite Nadal Murray felt he learned his lessons from his defeat against the 29-year-old in Monte Carlo by trying to stay on top at the beginning of the second set and the British No 1 revealed how he has done his homework in order to develop his technique on his second serve as well as working with his brother Jamies coach Louis Cayer.I spoke to a number of coaches who work with younger players to develop technique, just to understand different grips, different positions to stand on the court as well, the ideal spot to make contact with the serve, Murray said.I spent a bit of time with Louis Cayer before Monte Carlo and watched a lot of videos. Sometimes you can get into bad habits over the years because when you become a professional you dont do as much technical work, its more tactical and physical work. Nadal struggled to take his break point chances in the match Nadal had come from a set down to beat Murray in the semi-finals of Monte Carlo and was forced to try to do the same again as the world No 2 edged a tight first set.Murray surrendered a 5-2 lead, but responded perfectly by breaking Nadal to love with a searing forehand return to take the set. The second set was a tale of break points as Murray saved eight of the nine he faced and pounced on his two opportunities to silence the home crowd in the La Caja Mágica.Nadal missed out on three break points in the opening game of the set and two more as Murray held to lead 3-2. Murray snapped the Spaniards 13-match winning streak on clay Murray then moved to within a game of victory as he broke with his first chance of the second set. However, Nadal battled back from match point down as Murray fired a forehand long to finally break the Scots serve on his ninth break point opportunity of the set.The Spaniard couldnt back up the break, though, as he crashed his attempted smash into the net to bring up two more match points and then also found the net with a forehand to hand Murray victory in just over two hours. Everything worked for Murray Andy Murray learned from Monte Carlo defeat to Rafa Nadal, says Annabel Croft It was an open, competitive match which in the end was decided by a few points. The one that played the big points better won, said Nadal.He made the difference with his serve. I didnt play my best, but I also didnt play badly. I was at a middling level which wasnt enough to beat Murray.Murray, who has won seven of his last eight matches on clay, needs to win the title this weekend to avoid being overtaken by Roger Federer in the rankings. Watch the Madrid Open final on Sky Sports 3 HD from 5.30pm - your home of tennisBy purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: As it happened Everything worked for Murray WATCH: Kyrgios hotdog Get a NOW TV pass Air Max 270 Flyknit Clear Emerald . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. ISPA Air Max 270 SP SOE .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. http://www.cheapairmax270react.com/air-max-270-react-black-fake.html .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. 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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee must learn how to finish as well as it starts.Robert Hubbs III scored 25 points and made a key block in the last minute Tuesday night as Tennessee outlasted Tennessee Tech 74-68 after leading by as many as 22 points early in the second half.Tennessees fast first-half performance and struggle down the stretch came two days after the Volunteers couldnt hang on to a 15-point lead in a 73-71 loss at No. 7 North Carolina.Weve shown we can play well, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said, but what we havent shown is we can play a really solid 40 minutes.After trailing 49-27 with just under 17 minutes left, Tennessee Tech (4-8) cut Tennessees lead to 71-67 on Courtney Alexander IIs dunk with 21 seconds remaining. Tennessee went 3 of 4 on free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the victory.Im proud of how we came back, Tennessee Tech coach Steve Payne said. It could have gotten ugly.Before Alexanders dunk, Tennessee Tech had the ball twice in the last 90 seconds with a chance to trim a five-point deficit.On the first possession, Kajon Mack was called for an offensive foul when he leaned into Lamonte Turner with 1:14 left. The next time Tennessee Tech had the ball, Hubbs blocked Aleksa Jugovics 3-point attempt with 33 seconds remaining.I saw it all the way, Hubbs said. And then once I saw (Jugovic) slide to the corner, I just read it. I tried to steal it but couldnt get there in time, so I just played the shot and blocked it. We needed that. I had to make the play.Hubbs had arguably the best performance of his career against North Carolina, as the senior guard scored 21 points and shot 9 of 11. He stayed hot Tuesday by shooting 10 of 17 and pulling down seven rebounds, two off his career high.Turner added 16 points and shot 5 of 9 from 3-point range.But the game still was up for grabs in the last few minutes because Tennessee got stagnant.dddddddddddd Tennessee (5-4) withstood a 6 1/2-minute stretch in which it failed to make a basket.In the first half, I think we were the aggressor defensively, Turner said. In the second half, they were.Jugovic scored 14 points for Tennessee Tech. Mack and Savonte Frazier each scored 11, and Mason Ramsey added 10.THE TAKEAWAYTennessee Tech: The Golden Eagles have twice as many losses as wins, but theyve shown plenty of tenacity in how theyve rallied against more talented opponents. Tennessee Tech trailed Michigan State by as many as 18 on Saturday but made that game interesting down the stretch before falling 71-63. The Golden Eagles followed a similar formula Tuesday as Tennessee struggled to put the game away.Tennessee: The Vols played virtually error-free basketball in the first half by compiling 11 assists with only one turnover. Tennessee wasnt nearly as effective the rest of the way. In the second half, the Vols had 13 turnovers with six assists.QUOTABLEI thought after we dunked the ball once or twice, our guys acted like a bunch of high school guys where they thought the game was over with, Barnes said. We just started jacking some 3s up there. It doesnt take long when youre playing against a team thats well coached and that plays hard. They got comfortable and made us have to make plays at the end to win.KEY STATSTurner has gone 14 of 25 from 3-point range over his last four games. While Turner was 5 of 9 on 3-pointers Tuesday, his Tennessee teammates were a combined 1 of 11.NEXT UPTennessee Tech hosts Lipscomb on Saturday.Tennessee hosts Lipscomb on Thursday.---More AP College Basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org---Follow Steve Megargee at www.twitter.com/stevemegargee ' ' '