Federer to meet Nadal in French Open finals

Clay court king Rafael Nadal will meet Swiss Roger Federer in a rematch of last year's final at the French Open when the top two seeds earned their victories over respective opponents in the semifinals on Friday.

Photo: Federer to meet Nadal in French Open finals

Nadal needed two hours and 28 minutes to brush past Serb Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4, 6-2, while Federer won two tie-breaks and fought from 4-1 down in the third set to sweep aside an adamant Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-6(5), 7-6(7).

"A match between the world number one and the world number two is very special and interesting. It's going to be tough final of a Grand Slam against one of the best of the history," Nadal said after the match.

"He beat me the last time in Hamburg, so for that reason, maybe, he's the favorite," he added.

"But I will concentrate on myself and the game, and I will fight and struggle like a lion."

Federer, chasing the only grand slam title to elude him so far, and Nadal, bidding to become the first man to win three successive titles here since Bjorn Born in 1980, will clash for the twelfth time lifetime and the third time this season.

The Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion Federer pricked Nadal's aura of invincibility when he snapped the Spaniard's 81-match winning streak on clay in last month's Hamburg Masters final and will be eager to replicate the feat, Xinhua reports.

Alicia Molik of Australia capped a comeback when she and Mara Santangelo of Italy won their first French Open doubles title Friday, beating Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Molik's other Grand Slam title came in doubles in the 2005 Australian Open with Svetlana Kuznetsova. Molik missed the first several months of 2006 with an inner ear infection.

"It has obviously been a long journey for me, back from an injury," Molik said. "And it's moments like these that you really pinch yourself and realize why you put in those long hours of practice, and why you work so hard and diligently.

"So I think it's a great achievement for both of us."

Molik and Santangelo were seeded 17th, the AP reports.

Source: agencies

Prepared by Alexander Timoshik
Pravda.ru