French Open: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic set up 'Super Sunday'

ParisEighttime champion Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who needs a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam will clash in Sundays French Open final after racking up convincing semifinal wins on FridayWorld number one Nadal cruised to a 63 62 61 win against Wimbledon champion and seventh seed Andy Murray to register his 65th win on the red clay of Paris against just one defeat as he moved one victory away from becoming the first man to win five successive French OpensSunday will be the 28yearold Spaniards 20th Grand Slam finalSpains RafaelNadalcelebrates his victory over Great Britains Andy Murray at the end of their semifinal match at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Friday PicAFPDjokovic the world number two and runnerup to Nadal in the 2012 championship match went through to his 13th major final thanks to a 63 63 36 63 win over Latvian giantkiller Ernests Gulbis Of LatviaNadal could wrap up a 14th Grand Slam title which would put him level at second best on the alltime list with Pete Sampras and three behind Roger Federer while Djokovic will be chasing his seventh majorTop seed and eighttime winner Nadal now stands just one win away from becoming the first man to take the French Open title five times in a row surpassing Bjorn BorgHe also is on the cusp of a 14th Grand Slam title which would put him level at second best on the alltime list with Pete Sampras and three behind Roger FedererMurray failed in his bid to become the first British player to contest the French Open final since Bunny Austin 77 years ago and will now turn his attention to defending his Wimbledon crownIt was his worst loss to Nadal in nine Grand Slam matchups between the two surpassing the nine games he managed in the 2008 Wimbledon quarterfinalsI think that today I played my best tennis at Roland Garros this year said NadalAfter 10 years of coming here and to be back in the final for the ninth time its something I never believed would happen in my lifeHe Djokovic is an unbelievable opponent He is always a big challenge and I need to play at my very best He beat me the last few times we playedNadal was aware that the last time he played Murray on clay in Rome last month the Scot won the first set 61 before losing in threeThis time it was a very different scenario as the Spaniard who turned 28 on Tuesday hit the deck running winning the first three games in just 10 minutes and for the loss of just three pointsMurray finally opened his account but the one break of serve was enough for Nadal to take the first set 63It was another storming start to the second set from Nadal who bludgeoned two big forehand winners past Murray to set up breakpoint which he took when the seventh seed weakly hit a high forehand wideMurray was failing to make any impression on the Nadal serve with not a single break point offering him any hope and it became an even steeper mountain to climb for him when he dropped serve for the third time to put Nadal 52 upThe Majorcan duly pocketed the set by serving out to love and such was the onesided nature of the contest that there was no sign of Murrays habitual angry outbursts aimed at getting himself goingThe outcome looked a formality and when Nadal broke the Murray serve for the fourth time to lead 21 in the third the end was in sight for the 27yearold ScotIt came 18 minutes later when a dispirited Murray lost serve for the fifth and final timeThe win brought Nadals formidable record on the claycourts at Roland Garros since making his debut in 2005 to 65 wins against the one loss conceded to Robin Soderling of Sweden in a fourth round tie in 2009And it meant that he has now won 20 of the 23 Grand Slam semifinals he has contested in his career the last time he lost in the last four being against Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open