Federer, Nadal to meet in French Open semi-final blockbuster

Roger Federer set up a mouthwatering French Open semifinal clash with Rafael Nadal on Tuesday when he defeated Stan Wawrinka in four sets to become the oldest mens Grand Slam semifinalist in 28 yearsThe 37yearold Swiss beat his compatriot 76 74 46 76 75 64 to reach his 43rd major semifinal and eighth at Roland Garros Defending champion Nadal bidding for a 12th title at the French Open blitzed a weary Kei Nishikori 61 61 63Federer trails his headtohead record with Nadal 2315 despite winning their last five matches and 132 on clay The Spaniard has a 50 stranglehold over Federer at Roland Garros with Nadal winning their most recent Paris clash in 2011 finalThe complete dream would be to win the tournament said Federer Other players wont agree It will be difficult but I believe it anyway The 20time Grand Slam champion is the oldest man to make the semis at one of the big four tournaments since Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open aged 39 Wawrinka saved 16 of 18 break points in a thrilling encounter but Federer quickly finished off the match after a rain delay to progressIt is the third seeds first appearance at the French Open since 2015 after taking time away from clay to focus on Wimbledon but he has been in fine form in Paris and has only lost one set so far as has Nadal Nadal who turned 33 on Monday is three behind Federer in the alltime list of Grand Slam singles titles heading into their 39th career clashIt will be Federers first Roland Garros semifinal since a defeat by Novak Djokovic in 2012 The 2009 French Open champion struck 53 winners on Tuesday as Wawrinkas 61 unforced errors proved costlyIn a dramatic opening set on Court Suzanne Lenglen Federer saved four break points before taking it in a tiebreak Wawrinka had saved 22 of 27 break points in his epic last16 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas including all eight in the deciding set and he was at it again on Tuesday making it seven from seven to move 31 in front in the secondHe suffered from a few jitters when serving to level the match but took his fourth set point The topsyturvy nature of the encounter continued in the third set as Federer missed two set points before salvaging two break points himself after the players had earlier traded breaks Wawrinka held his nerve to force the quarterfinals second tiebreak but Federer moved two sets to one in front on his fifth set point After the threat of thunderstorms and dark skies forced the players from the court with the fourth set level at 33 Federer returned refreshed 80 minutes later and sealed a 23rd victory over Wawrinka in their 26th meeting despite needing three match points to get over the lineHere is how Twitter reacted to the news of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federers matchupOn Friday Roger Federer will beat Rafael Nadal 3 sets to 1 ending the match with a backhand winnermdash Raz Ols RazOlsRF June 4 2019Roger when asked about did you expect to play Nadal in RGFederer pictwittercomAehA0ro0D3mdash Vijaya Krishnan krishfeb19 June 4 2019Nadal on Federer lsquoWe shared the most important moments of our career together on court facing each other Therersquos another episode of this letrsquos try to be ready for itrsquomdash George Bellshaw BellshawGeorge June 4 2019Federers decision to play on clay has clearly been a great one He has shown up and given himself a chance but even if he loses easily to Nadal he goes into the grass season with good form rhythm and confidence And Im sure that this surface has helped him off the groundmdash Tumaini Carayol tumcarayol June 4 2019On Friday afternoon Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal on clay at Roland Garros for the first time since the 2011 finalmdash Stuart Fraser stu_fraser June 4 2019Federer speaking in French during oncourt interview following 4sets QF victory over Wawrinka which sets up French Open SF vs Nadal ldquoIf I came back to play on clay I came back to play Rafardquomdash Liz Clarke lizclarketweet June 4 2019Itrsquoll be Federer vs Nadal in the French Open semis Amazing pictwittercomZnKRtzw82Ymdash Caroline Cameron SNCaroline June 4 2019Last Slam without at least one among Federer Nadal or Djokovic in the semifinals was Roland Garros 200460 Slams agomdash enrico maria riva enricomariariva June 4 2019This faceoff between friends never gets old Watch highlights from Federers win over Wawrinka and prepare yourself for Federer vs Nadal httpstco5iJAEaGAmu RG19 pictwittercomvorzwOvuQbmdash RolandGarros rolandgarros June 5 2019We shared the most important moments of our careers together on court facing each otherRoger Federer and Rafael Nadal will meet again on Friday httpstcoOaUGw3cdpu pictwittercomQRJlURlrdLmdash BBC Sport BBCSport June 5 2019 Nadal thrashes Nishikori Nadal took his record in Paris to 91 wins and just two defeats in a onesided contest with Nishikori to reach his 31st Slam semifinalIts a great satisfaction to be in another semifinal there are lots of emotions said Nadal My level has been very good throughout the tournament and I am happy to be able to come back and play another day Tuesdays win was Nadals 11th in 13 meetings against Japanese seventh seed Nishikori who had played backtoback fivesetters to reach his third quarterfinal at Roland GarrosThe 29yearold Nishikori managed just nine winners in total in the first two sets As the skies darkened over the city so did Nishikoris mood as he slipped 41 down in the third Even the weather delay didnt help as Nadal needed just another eight minutes to finish the jobJohanna Konta became the first British woman in 36 years to reach the semifinals by sweeping past seventhseeded Sloane Stephens last years runnerup 61 64 to set up a tie against Czech teenager Marketa VondrousovaThe 28yearold Konta had not won a match at Roland Garros in any of her previous four visits But now she has emulated Jo Durie who was the last British woman to make the French Open semifinals in 1983 Ive always said that whenever I step out onto the court Im always going to have a chance Im always going to have a shot said KontaThe 19yearold Vondrousova battled past Croatian 31st Petra Martic 76 71 75 She had beaten me four times before but I think Roland Garros must be my lucky place said the Czech after securing victory on a fourth match pointCatch up on all the latest IPL News and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates