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PARIS – It's hard enough for Roger Federer – well, let's be honest, whoever keeps a tennis racket – to try to tackle Rafael Nadal's flawless excellence on the red clay of the French Open.
Blend in a wild wind, and Federer, so good for so long, against anyone and anywhere else, has turned into just good. Well, even the good results of Federer were not good enough on Friday.
Nadal quickly helped Federer to go to Roland Garros for the first time since 2011, surpassing his rival 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in aerial flight at over 20 km / h (12 km / h) to reach his 12th record final in Paris. while he continues his record of 12th championship.
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It's Federer's most unbalanced defeat against the Grand Slam since he's racked up four meager defeats to – guess who? – Nadal during the match for the title of Roland-Garros 2008.
"It makes you uncomfortable in the way you defend the pitch and play on clay." Nobody even plays so close to him, "said Federer, who has not been in the tournament since. 2015. "I do not even know who is I have to look for, practice with someone who plays like him.I thought that during the game."
Nadal has never lost a semi-final at the clay tournament. I have never lost a final either. When told about these facts, Nadal replied in a neutral tone: "It's amazing, be honest."
He has also never lost to Federer at Roland Garros, improving to 6-0. In total, Nadal leads their series 24-15. Federer had won his last five games, but they were all on hard ground.
It's a completely different task to tackle Nadal on clay in general, and at the French Open, in particular, where he is 92-2 for his career.
In the final on Sunday, Nadal, seeded number 2, will play the first row Novak Djokovic or number 4 Dominic Thiem. Their semi-final, played on Friday second, was suspended for the day in the third set because of the rain of the evening.
Thiem led 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 when the game was stopped. About 45 minutes later, the officials announced that the match would resume Saturday. That means anyone who wins would play the fourth consecutive day in the final against a well-rested Nadal.
It was the first time since 2011 that the top four men were in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
Nadal will be candidate for his 18th major title. Among men, only Federer has more, with 20.
As so many times before, it's the left-handed left kick, Nadal's ruthless reversal, his relentless pursuit of the ball and his return play that caused Federer to lose. Even though frustrated as the guy, Federer, usually stoic, sent a tennis ball to the stands after he broke the ball to take the track 2-1 in the third set.
It would be over soon.
"It's amazing how he plays in the depths and then is able to bounce back from the baseline," Federer said. "In my opinion, I did not play in the first two mediocre sets, I thought that Rafa really had to find the equipment to make the difference, and the difference was a shot going on here, a van there. "
All briskly. The fact is that Nadal's passes and pickups – not to mention his reflexes – are not of this world.
More than once, he slipped to his right, beyond the doubles aisle, to lengthen a point by recovering what seemed irremediable with a setback, then followed him by sprinting to his left for a an extremely precise forehand that fell out of Federer's reach. and fired to land near a line.
And more than once, Nadal punctuated the point by raising his fist and shouting: "Vamos!"
The wind was so insensitive that he dropped a tarp from his moorings behind a baseline. He threw the field ground in the eyes of both players, so much so that Federer joked that it was like playing in a sandbox. There was also drizzle and temperatures of about 60 degrees (15 degrees Celsius).
Enough to wish that the retractable roof to be installed before the Open de France 2020 is already in place.
Even Nadal described the conditions as "so difficult, so difficult to manage".
"It's really complicated, you know," Federer said. "So you're trying to figure out how much you can do – or you can not do it.Do you play flatter or more spinning, keep the ball in play, go get some stuff?"
With an aggressive style, the net charge, he had been broken only four times by his first five opponents. But Federer was more hesitant against his nemesis and Nadal won 6 of 13 games back.
Federer, 37, was serenaded out of the field by the songs of the spectators bearing his first name. He raised his right arm to wave his hand as he walked away – perhaps for the last time. He had missed the tournament in 2016 because of a backache, and then had skipped the entire clay circuit over the next two years to prepare for grassy and hard courts.
"I was surprised, perhaps, at what depth I took this tournament and how much I was able to play throughout the match," Federer said. "And next year, like any other tournament, I do not know, we'll see what happens."
For Nadal, it was the last impeccable performance of the recent resurgence. He entered May untitled in 2019, his worst start to the season for 15 years.
But the Spaniard, 33, began to regain form at the Italian Open last month, beating Djokovic in this final.
In Paris, Nadal lives up to its annual standards.
"He's playing better and better every week," said Nadal's coach, Carlos Moya, France Open champion in 1998. "He plays well at the moment, which is his main goal: Roland Garros."
Another victory to win for a dozen.
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