‘King of Clay’ Nadal into 13th Roland Garros Open final

Twelve-time champion Rafael Nadal reached his 13th French Open final yesterday with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, setting up a potential blockbuster title clash against Novak Djokovic.

For 34-year-old Nadal, it was a 99th win at Roland Garros since his 2005 debut and put him just one victory away from equalling Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles.

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He is also into his 28th final at the majors and has not dropped a set in the tournament this year.

“It’s always incredible to play here and this is a very special moment,” said Nadal after a 10th win in 11 matches against Schwartzman who had shocked him in Rome last month.

“I played a couple of bad points in the third set but Diego is a very tough player.

“He probably makes more breaks on the tour than others.

“It was difficult until the end but it was a positive match for me.”