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(June 4, 2010) Sweat seeped through the green headband wrapped tourniquet-tight around Rafael Nadal's forehead as the Nadal had his back to the wall while his muscular legs pumped up and down in purposeful perfect rhythm as if he were moving to music he could hear in his head. While Nadal's legs were in constant motion, his head was as still as a statue, eyes riveted on the sight of Jurgen Melzer standing before him.
All that activity took place in a hallway moments before Melzer and Nadal stepped on court to contest today's French Open semifinal. And that brief break on the hallway tile marked the last time Nadal would trail Melzer all day.
Offering little elbow room to the 29-year-old Austrian, Nadal swept a stubborn Melzer, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) to reach the Roland Garros final for the fifth time in the past six years.
The victory sets up a rematch that could well be a grudge match as Nadal will face fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling in Sunday's final.
Rallying from a two-set deficit against Tomas Berdych, Soderling staged a revival to reach his second straight French Open final with a rousing 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier today.
Soderling is the only man to ever beat Nadal at the French Open, scoring a four-set victory in the 2009 fourth round to shock the four-time French Open champion and snap Nadal's 31-match winning streak in Paris. Nadal has won 36 of the 37 French Open matches he's played.
Nadal has won three of five meetings with Soderling, but the 6-foot-4 powerhouse has won their last two meetings, scoring a 6-4, 6-4 victory in their most recent meeting on the hard court of London's 02 Arena in last November's ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal is arguably the greatest clay-court player of all time and will be highly motivated to regain the Roland Garros title and avenge his loss to Soderling. There is added incentive: should Nadal capture the title on Sunday he will surpass World No. 1 Roger Federer and reclaim the World No. 1 ranking while becoming the first man in history to capture all three clay-court Masters 1000 titles — Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid — and the French Open in the same season.