Federer, Nadal on verge of another showdown
But first, world's top two players must win their semifinal matches Friday
 | Rafael Nadal, right, embraces Roger Federer after winning their French Open championship match last year. |
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 | Record performances Take a look at players who have won and put themselves in the record books at the U.S. Open. NBCSports.com |
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PARIS - Even Roger Federer can use some luck at a Grand Slam, and he caught a break thanks to his next opponent in the chase for that elusive French Open title.
Guillermo Canas loomed as a formidable challenge for the top-ranked Federer in the semifinals Friday. But Canas lost in the quarterfinals to Nikolay Davydenko, a much better matchup for Federer.
“Against me,” Davydenko said, “he never lose.”
The Russian’s English may be broken, but his math is perfect: Federer has won all eight of their matches.
Federer’s 1-3 against Canas, including losses in both meetings this year.
“If Canas beat me, Federer has more trouble, because he lose already two times,” Davydenko said. “Against me ... he has more confidence.”
Canas ended Federer’s 41-match winning streak in March at Indian Wells, Calif., then won again when they played at Key Biscayne, Fla. Those upsets came on hard courts, even though Canas’ best surface is the clay that makes the French Open such a test of will.
So Federer was pleased to postpone a rematch.
“Now I will focus on Davydenko, not on Canas,” he said. “That’s perfect.”
Almost perfect. Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal still presents a likely obstacle in the final Sunday.
Federer earlier avoided facing Filippo Volandri, who won when they played on clay in Rome last month. Volandri lost Sunday to Tommy Robredo, who was then beaten by Federer in the next round.
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And maybe he’ll catch another break from Novak Djokovic, who faces Nadal in the semifinals.
“Nadal’s a big favorite, whoever he plays against on this surface,” Djokovic said. “But I hope it’s going to be a good match.”
Federer vs. Nadal would be the match of the year because of the stakes. Federer seeks his 11th major title, which would tie Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver for third on the all-time list.
More significantly, he can complete the career Slam that eluded such Grand Slam champions as John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg — none of whom won at Roland Garros.
“If he wins the French Open, he’ll be the greatest player of all time,” McEnroe said.
Federer is appearing in his 12th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, a record. He seeks to reach his eighth consecutive major final, which would break the record he shares with Jack Crawford (1933-34).
He has won 26 consecutive Grand Slam matches, three shy of the record Laver set in 1969-70. Federer’s last loss: to Nadal in the French Open final last year.
Nadal is 19-0 at Roland Garros, 32-0 in best-of-five-set matches on clay and bidding to become the first man to win three consecutive French titles since Borg in 1978-81. Nadal won a record 81 consecutive clay-court matches before losing to Federer in the Hamburg Masters final last month.
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