Federer Outlasts Nalbandian; Nadal NextPosted on May 13, 2006 World No.1 Roger Federer reached his 13 th consecutive final as he defeated David Nalbandian 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) in two hours, 43 minutes in the semifinals of the Internazionali D’Italia on Saturday (Watch Highlights). Federer, who is the first player in over 20 years to reach 10 or more finals in a row, has tied Guillermo Vilas’ record of 13 consecutive final appearances. Federer (audio) will take on Rafael Nadal on Sunday's final looking to snap the Spaniard's 52 clay court match winning streak (See more). In the opening set Nalbandian and Federer traded breaks of serve for the first four games before the Swiss finally held at 2-2. He then broke the Argentine once again to win the set 6-3. Nalbandian took control of the second set with a break of service in the fourth game to open a 4-1 lead. The Swiss would eventually hold serve twice in the set but would not be able to break the Argentine and fall 6-3. In the final set, Federer and Nalbandian raised their level of play and provided a spectacle to the crowd at the Foro Italico. The Argentine jumped to a quick 2-0 lead but the Swiss stormed back winning the next four games. When things seemed to be going Federer’s way, Nalbandian broke the Swiss again and leveled the match at 4-4. The set then went to a decisive tie-break in which Federer prevailed 7-5. Rome is one of only four ATP Masters Series events that Federer hasn’t won (Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Paris are the others). He has a career record of 13-5 here and was runner-up in 2003 (l. to Mantilla). Federer, the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion is off to a 10-1 start on clay. He holds a tour best 38-2 record. En route to the final the Swiss star defeated Juan Ignacio Chela, Potito Starace, Radek Stepanek, Nicolas Almagro and David Nalbandian. Nalbandian, who was riding a nine-match winning streak dating back to Estoril, now holds a 6-5 edge over Federer in their head-to-head meetings and is 24-6 on the season. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal will have the chance to match Guillermo Vilas’ clay court winning streak (53) on Sunday when he takes on World No.1 Roger Federer in the final of the Internzionali D’Italia (See more). Nadal, a 19-year-old from Mancor, Spain, defeated fellow teenage Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Rome on Saturday, raising his clay court winning streak to 52. The Spaniard is only one win why from equaling Guillermo Vilas’ clay court winning streak (53). Nadal (audio) took control of the match in the beginning of the first set opening a 2-0 lead. He would eventually break the Frenchman again at 4-2 and serve out the set 6-2. In the second set Monfils went up a break in the first game but couldn’t hold his serve in the following game. Nadal, who lost only 27 games in five matches (average of 5.4 games per match), then rolled to a 6-2 victory in the second set. Nadal will try to become the first repeat champion in Rome since Thomas Muster in 1995-96. The teenage superstar, who holds a 11-0 record at the Foro Italico, made his tournament debut last year defeating Guillermo Coria in a five hour, 14 minutes marathon final. Nadal is one of the few players to hold a winning record against Federer (4-1). In 2006 the Spaniard defeated the Swiss in the finals of Dubai and Monte-Carlo. Federer’s lone win over Nadal came in the final of Miami in 2005.
Best of Three Set Matches Best of Five Set Matches
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