Nadal, Djokovic stroll into French Open final

PARIS – For the fourth straight time in a Grand Slam final, it will be Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal.

That Nadal got there by winning his French Open semifinal in a breeze against David Ferrer was no shock.

That Djokovic made it after running into only a wisp of a challenge from Roger Federer – well, that came as a bigger surprise.

The top two players each won in straight sets Friday – second-seeded Nadal by 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 over sixth-seeded Ferrer and top-seeded Djokovic in a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 3 Federer.

On Sunday, “Rafa” and “Nole” meet and someone will make history: Either Nadal will win his seventh French Open to break the record he shares with Bjorn Borg or Djokovic will become the first man in 43 years to win four straight Grand Slam tournaments.

While they’ll have trouble putting on a better show than their last Grand Slam final – the nearly six-hour, five-set drama Djokovic won at the Australian Open – it shouldn’t be hard to stage a more competitive day of tennis than what happened in the semifinals.

“I know I have to be playing consistently well on a very high level to win a best-of-5 against Nadal here,” Djokovic said. “It’s the ultimate challenge. But I believe today was my best match of 2012 Roland Garros for me. I raised my game when I needed to. That’s something that gives me confidence before the final.”

The key stat in Djokovic’s win was Federer’s 46 unforced errors to 17 for Djokovic. Federer, a 16-time major championship winner, struggled with the conditions on another windy day at Roland Garros, to say nothing of the pressure of having to go for big shots to get anything past his Serbian opponent.

“It was difficult to attack,” Federer said. “And being defensive – I could have waited a little. But if I were to do this, I was playing for him.”

Nadal’s six French Open titles aren’t the only thing he’s got in common with Borg. Through six matches in this tournament, Rafa has yet to lose a set and has dropped only 35 games. A number that low hasn’t been seen since 1980, when Borg only lost 31. (Borg also holds the record – 27 in 1978).