 Federer is through to his eighth consecutive Grand Slam final |
World number one Roger Federer made it through to his second French Open final with a straight-sets win over fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko. Federer was not at his best and fought back from deficits in all three sets before winning 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7).
The Swiss becomes the first man to reach eight Grand Slam finals in a row, bettering Australian Jack Crawford's seven in the 1930s.
Rafael Nadal beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic in Friday's second semi-final.
It took a little over three hours for Federer to secure a return to the final, leaving him one win from holding all four Grand Slam titles at once.
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But he will need to raise his level after struggling at times against Davydenko, who led by a break in the first and served for the second and third sets.
"I could have just as easily have lost in three sets," said Federer.
"But he's not the greatest server so you always back yourself to come back at key moments. You have to stay with him.
"I didn't have a great first serve percentage but I had it when I needed it in the key moments. It was a real physical battle.
"Now I'm in a great position to win the tournament. I've played well these two weeks and now there's just one match to go."
Davydenko admitted: "I have to find more power. Maybe I made a mistake by starting so quickly.
"I was trying to fight all the time and by the second set I was already very tired. I need to learn how to keep it up for the whole match."
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Highlights: Federer holds off Davydenko