PARIS (Reuters) – No man has won seven French Open titles and no man in 43 years has won four grand slams in a row – and only one of these dreams will be realized at the French Open after Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic on Friday set up a lip-smacking final showdown.

Djokovic claimed he was “not good with numbers”, but even he knew how high the stakes were as he turned what should have been a tug-of-war semi-final against Roger Federer into a one-way 6-4 7-5 6-3 romp.

PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) – No man has won seven French Open
titles and no man in 43 years has won four grand slams in a row
- and only one of these dreams will be realised at the French
Open after Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic on Friday set up a
lip-smacking final showdown.

Djokovic claimed he was “not good with numbers”, but even he
knew how high the stakes were as he turned what should have been
a tug-of-war semi-final against Roger Federer into a one-way 6-4
7-5 6-3 romp.

PARIS (Reuters) – It seems no man or machine will be able to halt the unstoppable force that is Rafa Nadal after the red-hot Spaniard scorched his friend David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 6-1 to hurtle into a record seventh French Open final on Friday.

Nadal now needs to win just three more sets to become the first man to hold aloft the Musketeers Cup seven times and after pulverizing a claycourt specialist such as Ferrer for the loss of just five games, he is once again proving to be unbeatable on red dirt.

PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) – It seems no man or machine will be
able to halt the unstoppable force that is Rafa Nadal after the
red-hot Spaniard scorched his friend David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 6-1 to
hurtle into a record seventh French Open final on Friday.

Nadal now needs to win just three more sets to become the
first man to hold aloft the Musketeers Cup seven times and after
pulverising a claycourt specialist such as Ferrer for the loss
of just five games, he is once again proving to be unbeatable on
red dirt.

PARIS (Reuters) – When a groggy Maria Sharapova woke up after the effects of the anesthetic wore off following shoulder surgery in August 2008, it was not long before the doubts started to race through her overworked mind.

Was the surgery successful?

Would she be able to serve at a competitive level again?

Would she ever be able to play top level tennis again?

Would she ever be pain-free again?

What she did not dare to dream about, though, was that less than four years later she would be on the cusp of completing her collection of grand slam titles and back on top of the world.

PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) – When a groggy Maria Sharapova woke
up after the effects of the anaesthetic wore off following
shoulder surgery in August 2008, it was not long before the
doubts started to race through her overworked mind.

Was the surgery successful?

Would she be able to serve at a competitive level again?

Would she ever be able to play top level tennis again?

Would she ever be pain-free again?

What she did not dare to dream about, though, was that less
than four years later she would be on the cusp of completing her
collection of grand slam titles and back on top of the world.

PARIS (Reuters) – It was little wonder Maria Sharapova’s jubilant coach was wagging his index finger aloft on Thursday as the Russian enjoyed a double celebration after sweeping into her maiden French Open final.

Not only did her 6-3 6-3 humbling of Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova allow her to move within two sets of fulfilling her dream of completing a career grand slam but, after a four-year wait, she was finally back on top of the world.

PARIS (Reuters) – Mahesh Bhupathi celebrated his 38th birthday in style as he and Sania Mirza captured their second mixed doubles title together after beating Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gozalez 7-6 6-1 in the French Open final on Thursday.

Mirza and Bhupathi fought back from a break down in the opening set to trounce the Polish-Mexican partnership after Jans-Ignacik smacked a backhand wide on match point.

PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) – Mahesh Bhupathi celebrated his
38th birthday in style as he and Sania Mirza captured their
second mixed doubles title together after beating Klaudia
Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gozalez 7-6 6-1 in the French Open
final on Thursday.

Mirza and Bhupathi fought back from a break down in the
opening set to trounce the Polish-Mexican partnership after
Jans-Ignacik smacked a backhand wide on match point.

PARIS (Reuters) – It was little wonder Maria Sharapova’s jubilant coach was holding aloft his index finger on Thursday as the Russian enjoyed a double celebration after sweeping into her maiden French Open final.

Not only did her 6-3 6-3 defeat of Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova allow her to move within two sets of fulfilling her dream of completing a career grand slam but, after a four-year wait, she was finally back on top of the world.