Rafael Nadal is one win away from replacing his long-time rival Roger Federer at No. 1 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings and capturing his fifth title at Roland Garros.The second-seeded Spaniard extended his winning streak to 21 matches on clay courts this year after he defeated No. 22 seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the semi-finals on Friday. It marked the third time that Nadal has reached the final in the French capital without dropping a set and the fifth time overall at a major championship.
"I think I played my best match today," said Nadal. "With my serve I played well all the time [and] the forehand too. With [my] backhand I am playing better and better every day."
Nadal will now look to avenge last year's fourth round defeat to fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling in Sunday's final, when he bids to win his seventh Grand Slam championship title (6-2 overall record). Soderling battled past No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych earlier on Friday. Read Match Report
"[Soderling] came back [today] to win a very good match," said Nadal. "He's [a] very, very dangerous player. He's one of the best in the world. Sure it's going to be a really difficult match.
"I know how I have to play to beat him, but I'm not speaking about tactics. I have to play my best tennis, and that's what I going to try to do. I never believe in revenge. I try my best in every moment, and if I lose, I lose."
Fifth seed Robin Soderling will attempt to become the first Swedish titlist at Roland Garros since Mats Wilander in 1988 after he fought past No. 15 seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday for a place in his second Grand Slam championship final.
Soderling, who captured his only clay-court title at the SkiStar Swedish Open at Bastad in July 2009, ended Berdych’s eight-match winning streak with victory in three hours and 27 minutes. By reaching the Roland Garros final for the second straight year, he is guaranteed to rise to a career-high No. 6 in the South African Airways ATP 2010 Rankings on Monday.
The Tibro native hit 18 aces (75 aces overall for the tournament) and 62 winners, converting six of 13 break point opportunities. Berdych, whose previous best Grand Slam performance was a quarter-final run at 2007 Wimbledon, committed 41 unforced errors and dropped to 1-13 lifetime against Top 10 opponents at major championships.
"Of course I could have lost that match," admitted Soderling, who will next meet four-time former champion and No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain. "It was very close. [It] was really tough to play my own game, because he didn't give me any time at all. He was hitting the ball really hard and really flat."
Friday, 4 June 2010
Singles - Semi-finals
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [22] J Melzer (AUT) 62 63 76(6)
[5] R Soderling (SWE) d [15] T Berdych (CZE) 63 36 57 63 63
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