Nadal and Novak set for thriller

Andy Murray’s French Open came to a brutal end with a straight sets thrashing by Rafael Nadal, who will bid for an unprecedented ninth French Open title tomorrow against Novak Djokovic.

Reaching the last four had exceeded many people’s expectations for Murray, although he insisted not his own, but he appeared to completely run out of steam.

Nadal was never under the slightest pressure and Murray won just 10 points on his opponent’s serve in a 6-3 6-2 6-1 loss.

“I think I played very well with my forehand,” said Nadal. “I think it was important to serve the way that I served today.

“It’s true that for a player like Andy — he’s a big returner — that he made more mistakes than usual on the return.”

The Spaniard added: “He’s a player I admire quite a lot. He’s a player who is just recovering from an injury and he’s had very good results.”

Nadal will face Djokovic tomorrow in the final after the latter struggled to a 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

Djokovic said: “I’m going to try to be aggressive (against Nadal), because that is the only way I can win.

“I know that of course this is the court he’s most dominant on. He has only lost one time in his career. This is where he plays his best.

“But we played some really close and good matches here, especially the one last year serving at 4-3 in the fifth set to go 5-3. It was a very close one.

“And knowing that I was that close to winning against him the past two years gives me that reason to believe I can make it this time.

“I know what I need to do in order to win. It’s easier said than done, of course. But he’s not unbeatable.”

Today it’s the women’s singles final where Maria Sharapova is the red-hot favourite to take the title against challenger Simona Halep.

The Romanian underdog hopes her desire for revenge against the Russian can help carry her to a maiden grand slam title.

Halep has undoubtedly played the better tennis at Roland Garros and is yet to drop a set. But has only previously made one grand slam quarter-final, though on the back of a stellar 12 months she will reach number three in the rankings on Monday.

Halep has won seven titles in that time, more than anyone except Serena Williams, and she came close to adding an eighth in Madrid last month.

The player who stopped her was Sharapova, the Russian winning in three sets after Halep had taken the first 6-1.

“I have to take that revenge,” said Halep. “I will fight for this one. I played a really good match in Madrid first set. I started really well. I was very fast on court, and I opened the angles very well.

“But she came back very, very well and she hit strong, stronger than me at that moment. Now I have to be aggressive again, to play fast, my style, and to stay there with the nerves.

“I have nothing to lose. I’ll keep this in my mind always. I will try to hit very relaxed. I know that it will be very tough to manage the emotions, but I will try my best.”