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WRAPUP 2-Tennis-Federer sets tantalising final date with Nadal

(adds Nadal quote)

By Pritha Sarkar

PARIS, June 8 - The historians wanted it, the fans
demanded it and Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal duly obliged on
Friday by setting up a dream final at the French Open.

Federer earned the chance to reignite the most intriguing
rivalry in the sport when he wore down the dogged resilience of
Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 7-6 7-6 in a three-hour duel.

In the end, the Swiss maestro won only eight more points
than the Russian fourth seed to march into an eighth successive
grand slam final, breaking the all-time record he had shared
with Australian Jack Crawford.

"It was a wonderful match, I could have lost in three sets
but I won," Federer said courtside as he ran his fingers through
his soaking hair.

Nadal flexed his bulging biceps to flatten Serbian tyro
Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 6-2, taking his Roland Garros streak to
20-0. More significantly it kept him in line to match Bjorn
Borg's hat-trick of trophies achieved in 1980.

Sixth seed Djokovic had ridden on a wave of Serbian fervour
to reach his first grand slam semi-final, doing so without
facing a single player in the top 50.

It did not take world number two Nadal long to remind his
rival that he belonged to a different league.

Djokovic, at 20 the youngest of the four semi-finalists,
once again donned his lucky yellow shirt but it could not save
him from a mauling in the final set.

After two sets of darting around like a wild boar,
Djokovic's sweat-streaked face told it's own story while Nadal
shot menacing glares and completed his business with a fizzing
forehand winner.

"My home is in Mallorca but the Centre Court here is a place
that means a lot to me. I'm going to fight and struggle like a
lion to make sure I have three cups at home rather than two,"
said Nadal.

Djokovic may have lost his chance to become the first
Serbian man to reach a major final but warned: "I'm young and my
time will come."

For the second year running, Federer will attempt to emulate
American Don Budge and his hero Rod Laver by becoming only the
third man to hold all four grand slam trophies at the same time.

BROKE SPELL

Twelve months ago, Federer came within two sets of achieving
the feat until Nadal rudely broke the spell and reasserted his
status as the best claycourter of his generation.

But the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion
pricked Nadal's aura of invincibility when he snapped the
Spaniard's 81-match winning streak on clay in last month's
Hamburg Masters final and will be eager to replicate the feat.

"Last year I came out of the blocks very, very strong with a
great first set but after that, I couldn't handle Nadal," said
Federer, who is in pursuit of an 11th major but has never won in
Paris.

"So I hope this year's going to be different."

On Friday, however, Federer was slow out of the blocks and
had to claw his way back from a break down in each set.

Davydenko broke in the opening game of the match and had
four more chances to widen the gulf to 5-2. Federer dug himself
out of trouble with a vicious kicking second serve and after
pulling level in the next game he snatched the first set when
the Russian tipped a backhand long.

Showing flashes of brilliance, Federer stole the second 7-5
on a tiebreak.

Davydenko nosed ahead 3-1 in the third, but from then on
Federer conjured one master stroke after another to win the
points that mattered.

On the three-hour mark, Federer sealed a second tiebreaker
9-7 as the luckless Davydenko floated a backhand wide.

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