It's rough enough for Roger Federer -- well, let's be honest, anyone holding a tennis racket -- to try to deal with Rafael Nadal's unflinching excellence on the French Open's red clay, ESPN informs. Mix in a wild wind, and Federer, so great for so long, against anyone else and anywhere else, morphed into merely good. And good, even Federer's brand of good, was not nearly enough Friday.
Nadal made quick work of Federer in their first meeting at Roland Garros since 2011, outperforming his rival 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in air whipping at more than 20 mph (12 kph) to reach his record 12th final in Paris as he pursues his record 12th championship. Nadal has never lost a semifinal at the clay-court major. He never lost a final, either. When told of those facts, Nadal replied, matter-of-factly: "It's incredible, being honest."
He's also never lost to Federer at Roland Garros, improving to 6-0. Overall, Nadal leads their series 24-15. Federer had won their past five meetings, but those were all on hard courts. It's a whole different task to take on Nadal on clay, in general, and at the French Open, in particular, where he is 92-2 for his career.
In Sunday's final, the No. 2-seeded Nadal will play No. 1 Novak Djokovic or No. 4 Dominic Thiem. Their semifinal, played second Friday, was suspended for the day in the third set because of rain in the evening. Thiem was leading 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 when play was halted. About 45 minutes later, officials announced the match would resume Saturday. That means whoever wins would be competing for a fourth day in a row in the final against a well-rested Nadal.
This was the first time since 2011 the four top-seeded men were in the Roland Garros semifinals. Nadal will be bidding for his 18th major title. Among men, only Federer has more, with 20. Like so many times before, it was Nadal's topspin-heavy lefty forehand, his relentless ball-chasing and his return game that gave Federer fits. Even frustrated the guy so much that the generally stoic Federer smacked a tennis ball toward the stands after getting broken to trail 2-1 in the third set.
More than once, he slid to his right, beyond the doubles alley, to extend a point by retrieving the seemingly irretrievable with a backhand, then followed it up by sprinting to his left for a jaw-droppingly precise forehand that flew out of Federer's reach and veered to land near a line.
The wind was so unchecked that it knocked a tarp off its moorings behind a baseline. It tossed loose dirt from the court into both players' eyes, so much so that Federer joked it felt as if they were playing in a sandbox. There was also drizzle and temperatures of about 60 degrees (15 Celsius).
Enough to make one wish the retractable roof due to be installed before the 2020 French Open were already in place. Even Nadal described the conditions as "so hard, so difficult to manage." With an aggressive, charge-to-the-net style, he had been broken a total of only four times by his first five opponents. But Federer was more hesitant against his nemesis, and Nadal won 6 of 13 return games.
