Nadal romps into fifth French final

Rafael Nadal roared into his fifth French Open final on Friday to set up a clash against the only man ever to have beaten him at Roland Garros.

Nadal, who turned 24 on Thursday, brushed aside Jurgen Melzer 6-2 6-3 7-6 (8/6) in two hours and nine minutes in Friday afternoon's second semi-final after Robin Soderling took almost three-and-a-half hours to see off Tomas Berdych in the first.

Sunday's final will be a rematch of last year's fourth-round clash on Philippe Chatrier Court, which saw Soderling end Nadal's four-year unbeaten record in the tournament.

Melzer, who came from two sets down to stun Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, would have matched the record for the most number of grand slams played before reaching a final had he won.

Nadal was ruthless in the first set, breaking to love in game six thanks to a Melzer double-fault. He then saved a break point of his own before taking the Austrian's serve again to seal four games in a row and the set.

Nadal almost made it six straight games when Melzer slumped from 40-0 up to break point down in game two of the second set. He held but was broken again in game four before going all-out attack to get back on serve.

However, Nadal immediately regained the advantage, and went on to serve out the set following a brief hiatus when a spectator needed attention for what might have been heatstroke.

The Spaniard was in a hurry and his forehand was in full flight to help him break Melzer to love at the start of the third set. The Austrian battled gamely to avoid a quick finish and broke back to love when Nadal double-faulted serving for the match.

After Melzer survived a break point in game 11, the set went to a tie break. A topsy-turvy affair saw Melzer save two match points - the first on Nadal's serve - before finally succumbing to a third.

Soderling earlier powered into his second successive Roland Garros final after coming from two sets to one down to beat Berdych. Giant-killing Swede Soderling's dream of a maiden grand slam title hung in the balance when costly errors allowed his opponent to take control of the match.But the 25-year-old fought back to win 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-3 on a sun-baked Philippe Chatrier.