Nadal storms into French Open final, faces Soderling

by Dave James

TENNIS: PARIS, June 5, 2010: Four-time champion Rafael Nadal stormed into his fifth French Open final on Friday to set up a mouth-watering revenge showdown with Robin Soderling, who sent him crashing to a first Paris defeat last year.

Spanish second seed Nadal, who turned 24 on Thursday, outclassed battling Austrian journeyman Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to maintain his record of not having dropped a set in this tournament.

Soderling, the Swedish fifth seed who was defeated by Roger Federer in the 2009 final, blasted past Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in his semi-final.

Now the Swede, who put Federer out in the quarter-final here on Wednesday, stands in the way of Nadal capturing a fifth French Open, a feat which would place the Spaniard just one behind Bjorn Borg on the all-time list.