No go, Djoko. It's Roger versus 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 on Friday. The 16-time Grand Slam champion beat the second-seeded Serb 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and will face Rafael Nadal in the final for the fourth time in six years.
Five-time champion Nadal, who turned 25 on Friday, is one victory away from equaling Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles. He defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 earlier on Court Philippe Chatrier to improve his record at Roland Garros to 44-1. On Sunday, Nadal will try to beat Federer for the sixth time in eight Grand Slam finals.
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 Grand Slam 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. 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 to 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.
The top-ranked Spaniard, meanwhile, wasn't perfect against Murray, 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."
Against Murray on Court Philippe Chatrier, 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. 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!"
The wind was swirling on court yet again, at one point forcing Murray to turn around to avoid the floating red dust from getting into his eyes. A few games later, while Murray was serving in the second set, a spectator's Panama hat blew onto the clay court. A ball boy quickly retrieved the offending chapeau and Nadal then claimed his second break point of the game when Murray sent a backhand wide. Three points later, Nadal broke for a 6-5 lead with a forehand winner, earning his second of five straight games.
After the match, some of his faithful fans serenaded Nadal with a rendition of "Happy Birthday."
