Federer, Nadal Set Up Dream Final in Monte Carlo

Posted on April 22, 2006

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won their semifinals on Saturday and will dispute the first No. 1-2 seed final since 1985 in Monte Carlo.

Nadal earned a hard fought 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Gaston Gaudio to enter enter the championship match of the Masters Series Monte Carlo presented by Rolex Gaudio started strong by breaking early in the first set and taking a 3-1 lead. Nadal quickly responded and broke back to level the set at 3-3. At 5-5, Gaudio broke again after a failed drop shot by Nadal at 30-40 and held on to his own to claimed the first in 1 hour, 18 minutes of grueling play.

Nadal continued his physically demanding play with his powerful shots while Gaudio's intensity declined. The Spaniard broke at 1-1 in the third set and never looked back to win the final two sets 6-1, 6-1 and clinch the victory in two hours, 31 minutes.

With the win, the Spaniard advanced to the final for the second consecutive time and looks for his fifth Masters Series shield. He also clinched his 41st consecutive win on clay and moves into third in the All-time clay court winning streaks behind Guillermo Vilas (53) and Bjorn Borg (46).

In the second semifinal of the match, Roger Federer hit 21 winners to post a 6-2, 6-4 win over Fernando Gonzalez and reach the championship match against Nadal. Federer broke serve early in the first set and once again at the end to claim the first set. In the second, Gonzalez was up 2-1 and had two break point opportunities at 15-40. The Chilean missed an easy forehand return at 30-40 and Federer took control of the match from then on to win the set 6-4 and the match in 1 hour, 9 minutes of play.

With the win, the Swiss improves to 33-1 (only loss to Nadal in Dubai final) and has now reached all clay court Masters Series finals. He also reached his 12th consecutive final and will look for his fifth tournament title of the year.  (ATP)