Federer, Nadal to clash again in Paris

PARIS, June 6 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Roger Federer and three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal will battle for the third straight year in the French Open final.

Federer advanced Friday with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win over unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, and Nadal stormed into the final with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Nadal, No. 2 in the world, has defeated Federer in the championship match the past two years .

Federer's match with Monfils lasted more than three hours.

The 26-year-old Swiss star committed 30 unforced errors but outlasted the 6-foot-4 Monfils, who had 40. Monfils also had 10 aces and five double-faults.

Nadal, 23, took the first two sets against the third-ranked Djokovic with relative ease, and then scored the first six points of a tiebreaker to win the third set and the match.

Nadal has gained the French Open finals four straight years. He is trying to become the second player to win the tournament four years in a row. Bjorn Borg won it in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981, and six times overall.

Nadal's win over Djokovic was his 114th against only two losses in on clay surfaces since 2005.