Fri Jun 6 13:57:08 2008

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Federer, Nadal to meet in French final, again

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - For the third time in three years, world No. 1 Roger Federer and three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal will square off in the men's final at the French Open.

Federer beat unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, while Nadal handled third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) in Friday's semifinals on the famed red clay at Roland Garros. The blockbuster finale will be staged Sunday afternoon on Court Chatrier.

Nadal has yet to drop a set at this '08 fortnight and is trying to become only the second player to win four straight French Open crowns in the Open Era. The legendary Bjorn Borg, a six-time champion here, turned the trick from 1978-81. Borg was in attendance to watch Nadal advance on Friday.

A slightly off Federer needed 3 hours, 5 minutes to sneak past Monfils, as the Swiss moved on despite committing an uncharacteristic bevy of errors at the net.

Federer won the first set in routine fashion, but the game Frenchman surprised the Swiss by taking the second set to make it a match.

In the crucial third set, Federer notched a break for a 2-1 edge and would break again in the ninth game of the stanza to forge ahead two-sets-to-one. He won six-of-eight games after Monfils grabbed the opening game of the third.

In a tight fourth set, Monfils stunned Federer by saving two match points in order to hold for a 5-5 score. But Federer would convert on a third match point two games later, as the smooth superstar popped a backhand volley winner to seal the deal.

The 6-foot-4 Monfils launched 10 aces, but also tallied five double faults and 40 unforced errors. Federer compiled 30 errors, but also broke Monfils' serve on seven occasions, compared to only three breaks for the French loser.

The two-time Roland Garros runner-up Federer played in his fourth straight French Open semifinal (3-1), while Monfils competed in his first-ever major semi. The reigning five-time Wimbledon and four-time U.S. Open champion Federer also played in a record 16th straight major semifinal on Day 13 here.

Federer is now 4-0 all-time against the 21-year-old Monfils, including a 3-0 mark this season.

The 26-year-old Federer is a 12-time major titlist who still needs the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam. The Basel native will compete in his 15th major final (12-2), which have all come in the last 20 Grand Slam events. Federer played in a record 10 straight major finals before losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semis back in January.

Federer is 54-19 in his career ATP-level finals, including a disappointing 1-2 record this season. He titled in Estoril, but lost to Nadal on clay in Monte Carlo and Hamburg Masters Series tournaments.

In the early match on Friday, the second-seeded Nadal cruised past Djokovic to secure a berth in his fourth straight French Open final.

Nadal, who needed to beat Djokovic in order to maintain his world No. 2 ranking, handled the Aussie Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up from Serbia to improve his career record at Roland Garros to a perfect 27-0.

In addition to his three French Open crowns, Nadal is also the reigning two- time Wimbledon runner-up to Federer, the Spaniard's victim in the last two Roland Garros finales.

The fiery Nadal recorded a service break on his way to taking the opening set against Djokovic, broke early en route to an easy victory in the second, and jumped out to 3-0 advantage in the third before the Serb attempted to make things interesting.

Djokovic broke Nadal in the 10th game of the third set, as the Mallorcan was serving for the match but dropped the game as the Serb leveled the stanza at 5-5.

The athletic Djokovic then held in the 11th game of the set to grab a brief lead, at 6-5, and had a set point in the next game, but Nadal saved it en route to holding his serve to force a tiebreak.

Unfortunately for Djokovic, the tiebreak was all Nadal, who charged out to a 6-0 lead and held on by converting on his fourth match point with an overhead smash winner after 2 hours, 49 minutes of tennis.

Nadal, who turned 23 here on Tuesday, is now 8-3 lifetime against the 21- year-old Djokovic, including a 3-0 record here at Roland Garros and a 5-0 overall mark on red clay. The Spaniard beat the Serb in the quarterfinals here in 2006 and topped him in the semis last year.

The gritty Nadal is now 2-1 versus Djokovic this season, with the Serb taking a semifinal matchup at Indian Wells and Nadal claiming a semifinal victory on the dirt in Hamburg.

Nadal, who is 114-2 on his beloved clay since 2005, is now 6-1 in his career major semis, while Djokovic played in his fifth straight Grand Slam semifinal and was trying to reach a third straight major final.

The amazing Nadal will appear in his sixth Grand Slam final (3-2) and his 35th career title bout (26-8). He's 3-2 in his '08 finals, including clay-court championships in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Hamburg.

Nadal is 10-6 lifetime against Federer, including 8-1 on clay and 3-0 here at Roland Garros. In addition to the last two French Open finals, Nadal also topped Federer in the semis here in 2005. Nadal is 3-2 in their Grand Slam tussles, with all three wins coming here and both losses coming at Wimbledon.

Sunday's winner will collect just over $1.55 million.

With his performance here, Federer has eclipsed the $40 million mark in career earnings, where he's second behind only Pete Sampras, who piled up more than $43 million en route to a record 14 Grand Slam titles.