Rafael Nadal defeated his great rival Roger Federer in straight sets on Friday to reach the French Open final. The Spaniard handled windy conditions in Paris superbly as he triumphed 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. The world No 2 is now one match away from a 12th title at Roland Garros, with either Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem to be his opponent in Sunday's final. Nadal had never lost any of his five previous clashes with Federer at the tournament, and he started with an immediate intent to make it six in a row as he broke in the second game of the match to race into a 3-0 lead. But Federer, playing at the French Open for the first time in 2015, demonstrated he was not going to be swept aside as he hit back with a break of his own to get back on serve. However, Nadal, playing his best tennis of the tournament, broke again in the sixth game and that set him up to take the set. Federer, the 2009 champion at Roland Garros, broke at the start of the second set as he looked to peg Nadal back. But the 33 year old, who has only lost twice in 14 years of coming to Paris for the event, broke back in the third game and then in the ninth game to take the set. Federer had no response and Nadal strolled through the third set to claim only his third straight sets success over the 20-time major winner at a grand slam.
