Fri Jun 6 10:30:59 2008

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Nadal handles Djokovic, reaches fourth straight French Open final

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - In a battle of two of the world's top-three players on Friday, second-seeded and three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised past third-seeded Novak 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 Australian Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up from Serbia 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) to improve his career record at Roland Garros to a flawless 27-0.

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

Nadal will meet Federer or unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils in the lucrative final here on Sunday, with the champion taking home $1.55 million.

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

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

The Serb 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 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.

The amazing 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.

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.

Currently, the two-time Roland Garros runner-up Federer is playing in his fourth straight French Open semi, while his opponent, the 6-foot-4 Monfils, is competing in his first-ever major semi.

The 26-year-old Swiss Federer is 3-0 all-time against the 21-year-old Monfils, including a 2-0 mark this season.

The world No. 1 Federer is a 12-time major titlist who still needs the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam. The reigning five-time Wimbledon and four-time U.S. Open champion is playing in a record 16th straight major semifinal.