Paris, June 9:

World number one Roger Federer and number two Rafael Nadal set up a dream finish to the French Open by advancing to the final on Friday.

Federer, 24, made his first Roland Garros title match as Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semi-final tie. Reigning champion Nadal was his usual unstoppable self in storming past world number four Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) to reach Sunday’s final. He never gave the Croatian a chance, breaking once in the first and twice in the second before securing victory on his second match point in the third. Ljubicic had said before the match that Nadal’s record winning streak on clay — now standing at 59 matches — had to come to an end at some point but he was not the man to do it and never really looked like he believed in his chances.

Federer now sits on the brink of history as he became only the third man to reach four successive Grand Slam finals. If he wins, he will match Rod Laver’s 1969 record of holding all four titles at the same time. “I was hoping to get the opportunity to win my first French Open, and you only get that opportunity once you reach the final,” said Federer who had only once before made it to the last four. “The quarter-final and semi-final is nice but you want to go out there on Sunday.”

Third seed Nalbandian suffered an abdominal strain in the second set and although he tried to continue he eventually called it of. It was a recurrence of an injury Nalbandian felt in the previous round against Russian Nikolay Davydenko. “It’s never easy when you lose and when you get injured it’s worse. I felt I was playing well tactically, the match was going perfectly but with these things you never know and that’s the way it is.”