|
 |
| Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts during his match against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in their semi-final of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris June 9, 2006. Nadal won 6-4, 6-2, 7-6. (Xinhua photo) |
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet in the men's final of the French Open after they won the semifinals on Friday.
Nadal overcame Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in two hours, 49 minutes to extend his clay court winning streak to 59 matches, while Federer was up 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 when the third-seeded David Nalbandian was forced to retire because of a left side stomach strain.
"It will be a beautiful final after the matches we played in Monte Carlo and Rome," said Nadal, who has won four straight meetings with Federer, starting with last year's semifinal triumph here.
If Federer wins the championship, he would become only the third man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, joining Don Budge and Rod Laver. He also would become the sixth man to achieve a career Slam by winning all four majors.
 |
| Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic plays a shot to Spain's Rafael Nadal during their semi-final of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris June 9, 2006. (Xinhua photo) | "It would be something quite incredible," Federer said. "It has not happened for such a long time. To have created this opportunity, it's unbelievable."
Nadal kept the Croat subdued through the first two sets, but Ljubicic found his rhythm in the third to force the tiebreaker, only to fail himself with some poor decision making.
Nadal converted his third match point with a forehand passing shot down the line that curled into Ljubicic's body, forcing an errant volley.
"I am very happy because he had started to play very well in the third set," acknowledged Nadal, who couldn't help jumping around on the court after winning the match.
Federer, who is seeking his first-ever crown in Roland Garros, was initially stunned by Nalbandian, who made a dream start.
With his returns sizzling and groundstrokes sailing, Nalbandianbroke a listless Federer in the fifth game when the Swiss hit a routine forehand wide.
Up 5-3, Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon finalist, forced the Swiss to drop serve once again and nailed the first set on another errant forehand from Federer in 30 minutes.
In the second set, Nalbandian looked equally impressive. He again broke Federer in the second game and then held to charge ahead 3-0.
On the brink, Federer was able to summon his immense talents atjust the right moment. He raised his game, changing the pace and utilizing his sliced backhand to perfection to unnerve the Argentine.
After one hour and five minutes, Federer equalized at one set apiece after another error from Nalbandian.
The Argentine called the trainer at the end of the second set and never came close to Federer after that.
Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Montenegro defeated Russia's Elena Likhovtseva and Canada's Daniel Nestor 6-3, 6-4 to claim the mixed doubles crown.
Chian's ace pair Zheng Jie/Yan Zi, who won the country's first-ever Grand Slam title as they claimed the Australian Open women's doubles trophy this year, failed to match the feat as they lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama in the semifinals.
The Slovakia-Japan combination will face top-seeded Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, who crushed No.15-seeded Eleni Daniilidou and Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
Editor: Donald
|
