Milos Raonic – Canada Fan Blog an (unofficial) blog about tennis and Canadian player Milos Raonic

Federer and Nadal in the Finals at Roland-Garros

Rafael Nadal reached his sixth final at the French Open by defeating Andy Murray in straight sets yesterday.

It was a close and competitive match that took over 3 hours to complete, but it could have easily taken longer. Murray was playing from behind for most of the match, though he was often able to fight his way back on serve and even had chances to take the outright lead. Nadal, displaying his best form of the tournament so far, quelled any hopes Murray might have had of extending match by keeping his nose firmly in front and playing the big better than Murray.

The biggest story of the semi-finals day was the clash of Federer and Djokovic.

Coming into the match, Federer has been playing extremely well on the clay and was having a picture-perfect tournament. Djokovic had the 41-match winning streak to open 2011 going for him and he was very well rested after advancing to the semis in a walkover. The tennis was of the highest quality from the word go, with both players showing why they are the best returners in the game. Federer lead for most of the match, dropping just one set to Djokovic who was unable to force a deciding fifth set.

Perhaps by ending Djokovic's winning streak, Roger Federer has restored some balance to the universe.

On Sunday, we will have a Federer-Nadal final at Roland-Garros. I will be the first to admit that I would have loved to see a Djokovic-Nadal final, with Nadal reasserting his King Of Clay status by defending his title and defeating the man who beat him in the last two finals in Madrid and Rome. But it just seems right to have Rafa and Roger in the finals again. Especially at the French, where there has been so much debate around the relative greatness of these rivals. Granted, Roger finally got his Career Slam by winning the French Open in 2009, but he didn't have to beat Rafa to do it. Surely, if Roger can claim another French Open title over Rafa in the final there will be little doubt as to who is the greatest of all time -- at least for a while, until we see how many more major titles Nadal can add to his growing collection.

-multi

Final Four at Roland-Garros

Since Milos Raonic went out in the first round of the French Open, we haven't had much to report on. In the meantime, we've been treated to some great clay court tennis during the past two weeks -- and the final weekend hasn't even arrived yet!

On the men's side, the top four seeds in the draw have taken their rightful place in the semi-finals. The preeminent Roger Federer, who reached his record-setting 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal a few days ago, will be looking to prevent Novak Djokovic from tying McEnroe's record for the best start to a season. In the other semi, Rafael Nadal will have his hands full with Andy Murray, who has shown himself to be a formidable clay courter as of late. Murray's 3-setter with Djokovic in Rome a few weeks ago was one of the best matches of the year so far, with Djokovic saving some match points to keep his winning streak alive.

The women's final was set today after Li Na defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, and defending champ Francesca Schiavone crushed the hopes of there being a French woman in the final with her win over Marion Bartoli. This is no battle of top seeds, and there have been upsets all along the way in the women's draw. Li Na is continuing to make history for Chinese tennis, and she will have a chance to capture one of the biggest prizes in tennis this weekend. She has admitted that she never thought she could make the semis, or the finals for that matter, at the French Open, but she's proven herself to be a tough opponent on the clay. But Schiavone has the kind of versatility in her game that is highly effective on this surface, and she hasn't been shy in showing her affection for the dirt in Stade Roland-Garros.

-multi