Paris – Pouncing from the breezy start, bouncing at the dusky end, Rafael Nadal turned his 19th birthday into a milestone triumph over Roger Federer in a French Open semifinals that confirmed the Spanish prodigy’s arrival as a star on the Grand Slam stage.
Moments before the fading twilight threatened to suspend the match, Nadal asserted his irrepressible will and his uncanny combination of speed, strength and creativity to reach the final of his first French Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory Friday that ended Federer’s bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
The youngest men’s finalist at Roland Garros since Michael Chang won the title at 17 in 1989, Nadal will play for the championship Sunday against unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta, a 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko. It will be the first French men’s final between left-handers in the Open era.
“It’s incredible to beat Federer,” said Nadal, who avenged a five-set loss to him at Key Biscayne, Fla., two months ago, extended his winning streak to 23 matches and moved within one victory of becoming the first player to win the French Open in his debut since Mats Wilander in 1982. “Winning a semifinal is already incredible, and beating Federer is even more amazing.”
From the opening point, a stunning forehand pass that whizzed by Federer on his serve, Nadal showed he was neither intimidated by the four-time Grand Slam winner, nor overwhelmed by the occasion.
He had won five titles this year, all on clay, and he treated this biggest clay event of all as if he were born to win it.
“I started bad and finished bad,” Federer said. “I was good in the middle, but that was not good enough.”
They had walked out on court with different demeanors, Nadal unsmiling and intense, Federer relaxed and waving, the crowd giving both an ovation as they settled in for what promised to be the match of the tournament. The fans would not be disappointed.
The players cast long shadows on the brick red clay when they started the match at 6:29 p.m., the sun shining once again after a 1 1/2-hour rain delay before the 3 1/2-hour duel between Puerta and Davydenko.
Federer’s vulnerability quickly became apparent when he whacked a forehand 10 feet long and committed two more unforced errors for a break in that first game. Mishitting an unusual number of shots, Federer couldn’t tame his forehand or make much use of his generally superior serve. He suffered three breaks to lose the set and saw the end of his streak of 28 straight sets won over the past 11 matches.
A clap of thunder followed by a sun shower at the start of the second set briefly held up play but the players never left the court. They simply sat in the changeover chairs under umbrellas waiting for it to pass while fans huddled under their own umbrellas. When play resumed, Federer found his rhythm at last and broke Nadal twice on the way to a 5-1 lead.
