It's Roger vs Rafa again

PARIS (AP):

No go, Djoko. It's Roger vs Rafa in the French Open final once again.

Novak Djokovic's perfect season and 43-match winning streak were ended by Roger Federer in the semi-finals at Roland Garros. The 16-time Grand Slam champion beat the second-seeded Serb 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) yesterday and will face Rafael Nadal in the final for the fourth time in six years.

"I've trained a lot during my whole life for these kinds of matches,'' Federer said. "There was an enormous amount of pressure on Novak and he really played well.''

Five-time champion Nadal, who is one victory away from equalling Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles, defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 earlier on Court Philippe Chatrier to improve his record at Roland Garros to 44-1.

Tomorrow, Nadal will try to beat Federer for the sixth time in eight Grand Slam finals - and if he does so, he will prevent Djokovic from taking his No. 1 ranking.

"Beating Novak today was maybe a good birthday gift for him because he lost his four previous matches against Novak,'' Federer said of Nadal, who turned 25 yesterday. "I'm going to play against Nadal, my main rival, in another Grand Slam final. We live for these moments.''

In the women's final, defending champion Francesca Schiavone will face Li Na today.

Hot contender

Djokovic entered the French Open as the hottest man on tour. He won every tournament he had played in 2011, including earning his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after beating Federer in their second straight major semi-final.

But for Federer, three times in a row was too many.

The third-seeded Swiss had an answer to just about everything Djokovic could muster, sending back shot after shot and waiting for his opponent to make the mistakes - even though Federer finished with 46 unforced errors, five more than Djokovic, as light was fading on centre court.

The two traded a pair of breaks in the first set, and Djokovic then led 5-4 in the tiebreaker when three unforced errors - a backhand and two forehands - gave Federer the set.

In the second, Federer took Djokovic's serve to jump ahead 4-1 and held on to win it despite wasting nine more break chances.

Djokovic got the early break in the third and ran out to a 3-0 lead, eventually taking the first set off Federer at this year's tournament. He also led in the fourth, and served for the set at 5-4. But Federer got his fourth break too soon send it back to a tiebreaker.

Once there, Federer was the Federer of old again.

He took a 6-3 lead by winning three straight points, the latter two with an ace and service winner. He then won the match with his 18th ace of the match.

Not getting easier

Things won't get any easier against Nadal.

Federer is 8-16 against his main rival, and 2-6 in Grand Slams. He has already lost to Nadal twice this year, in the semi-finals in Key Biscayne, Florida, and in Madrid.

Nadal reached his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros by beating the fourth-seeded Murray.

He wasn't perfect, struggling at times with his serve and getting broken three times, but his play was consistent enough to take care of his opponent's defensive tactics.

"The conditions today were not easy,'' said Nadal, who saved all six break points he faced in the third set. "Very, very difficult with the wind changing a lot.''

Nadal celebrated his birthday on Court Philippe Chatrier with yet another victory. And against Murray, he certainly looked like the best player in the world.

Nadal broke Murray early in each of the three sets. And although he lost his serve once in the first and twice in the second, Nadal always looked in charge - even helping the court crew by frequently cleaning the clay off his baseline by dragging his foot along the white paint.

When the big points were played, it was Nadal who often came out on top.

He saved 15 of 18 break points and converted six of the 13 he earned. After saving the second of two break points in the second game of the second set, Nadal let out a primal "Vamos!'' or "Come on!'