Nadal vs Djokovic in Paris final
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RAFAEL Nadal will play for the French Open title for the ninth time after beating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 yesterday.
The eight-time champion jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the start and was never troubled by the Wimbledon champion on Court Philippe Chatrier, the stadium Nadal calls his favorite place to play.
In tomorrow’s final, Nadal will face Novak Djokovic. The second-seeded Serb beat Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
World No. 1 Nadal did not concede a single break point in a one-sided clash on the red clay, hammering the British seventh seed with forehand winners.
Murray, looking to become the first British man since tennis turned professional in 1968 to reach the final in Paris, was never in the contest, making too many unforced errors with his usually reliable forehand.
Top seed Nadal wrapped it up on his first match point with a smash on Murray’s serve.
Nadal won four straight titles at Roland Garros before losing in the fourth round in 2009. He has since won four more in a row, and this year improved his record to 65-1 at the French Open, including a record 34 straight wins.
Nadal will retain his No. 1 ranking if he beats Djokovic in the final. Otherwise, Djokovic will move back to the top.
Earlier, the second-seeded Serb was able to control the pace of his match while letting Gulbis’ unforced errors mount. The powerful Latvian, who was playing in his first grand slam semifinal, finished with 44 errors.
Djokovic is a six-time major champion who needs to win the title at the French Open to complete a career grand slam. He also reached the final at Roland Garros in 2012, but lost to Nadal.
Djokovic was first to get into trouble but he managed to save two break points and hold to 2-2 in the opening set.
A few minutes later, he was ahead for good. Djokovic needed three attempts to earn his first break of the match, and he finally got it when Gulbis sent one of his many forehands long.
It was also in that game that Gulbis had his first of five double-faults. His second double came in the final game of the set, when Djokovic broke again. And his third came when trailing Djokovic 3-4 in the second, when the Serb broke yet again.
“I’m not used to (playing) these kind of big matches,” Gulbis, said. “It’s just normal I felt extra nervous and extra tense.”
Gulbis fared better in the third set. He again had two break points while leading 3-2, but again failed to win the game. However, he didn’t waste his chance two games later, breaking Djokovic to take a 5-3 lead before serving out the set with his 11th ace.
Watched by a host of former champions, including Bjorn Borg and Gustavo Kuerten, the two traded breaks early in the fourth set, and Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 when Gulbis, again double-faulting once in the game, sent a backhand long.
“It was a struggle out there,” Gulbis said. “I felt maybe throughout the match I hit five really clean shots, from either side, backhand or forehand. Even serve.”
Djokovic is now 5-1 against Gulbis, a 25-year-old player who as a teen showed the potential for becoming a star.
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