Paris: Novak djokovic played his best at the right time but it was just not enough to stop the king of Clay court, Rafael Nadal. Nadal won his 58th match at Roland Garros and remained on course for his eighth French Open title. In a see-saw semi-final, Nadal emerged victorious (6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7) in four hours and 37 minutes.
The Spaniard will face fourth seed David Ferrer in Sunday’s final. He is chasing his 12th Grand Slam championship and has a winning FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Ferrer (19-4).
The 27-year-old Nadal has a 58-1 record at Roland Garros and is bidding to become the first man in history to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam. The left-hander’s only defeat at the Paris major came four years ago in the fourth round against Robin Soderling.
Nadal improved to a 20-15 record over Djokovic in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He also defeated the Serb at Roland Garros in the 2012 final and in the 2007-08 semi-finals.
Nadal is through to his ninth final in as many tournaments since his comeback from a left knee injury that kept him sidelined for seven months until February. The Mallorca native is on a 21-match winning streak, having won three successive titles at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Almagro), the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Wawrinka) and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (d. Federer) since his Monte-Carlo final defeat.
The 26-year-old Djokovic was bidding to become the eighth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam and gave Nadal the hardest match he’s had at Roland Garros, other than the defeat to Soderling. Indeed, it was only the second five-set match Nadal has played at the French major, with the first being a first-round win over John Isner in 2011.
Courtsey: www.atpworld tour.com
