Nadal sets up dream Federer final

By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon

Nadal is looking to win his third Grand Slam title

Second seed Rafael Nadal will face top seed Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final after beating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in Friday's second semi-final.

French Open champion Nadal, 20, has confounded those who predicted he would struggle on grass, reaching his first Wimbledon final with a 6-1 7-5 6-3 win.

After breaking serve three times in the first set, Nadal held off a resurgent Baghdatis to edge the crucial second.

And the Spaniard broke once in the third to win in two hours 27 minutes.

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"I'm very emotional, for me it's a dream to be in the final," Nadal told BBC Sport. "I never thought this (was possible) before.

"The first set was maybe not the most tough but the second and third one was tough.

I beat Federer some times this year but here it's his best surface Rafael Nadal

"I was a lot of break points down but I played with a lot of concentration, with unbelievable motivation all the time. I played a very good match."

He is the first French Open champion since Andre Agassi in 1999 to reach the Wimbledon final, and now hopes to match Bjorn Borg - the last man to hold both titles.

And Nadal will take a 6-1 career record against Federer into Sunday's final, having won their last five encounters including last month's French Open final.

Baghdatis, 21, was obviously nervous, making three unforced errors as he lost his opening service game and netting another poor backhand to slip a double break down.

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Nadal saved two break points in the following game and went on to seal the set in 30 minutes, before the match really caught fire in the second set.

Baghdatis, backed by a crowd desperate for a real battle, fought back from 0-40 in the first game before finding his best form to repeatedly push Nadal on serve.

But the Spaniard had the edge when it counted.

Baghdatis saved two break points in game 10, delighting the spectators, but Nadal clinched the set with a fizzing forehand in game 12 having suffered a bad call on an earlier set point.

I cannot say it was a bad match - it was a great match from both sides Marcos Baghdatis

Baghdatis had another two break points at the start of third third but just could not convert and Nadal made him pay three games later, breaking the Cypriot with the help of a rather fortuitous net cord.

If things were not bad enough for Baghdatis, he missed four more break points in game seven, one of which appeared to be a bad call.

Nadal was not to be denied and he sealed his place in the final with a smash to set up a tantalising final showdown with Federer on Sunday.

"I beat him some times this year but here it's his best surface," said Nadal. "I'm going to try my best and play the best match of my career."

Baghdatis said: "I was a bit nervous at the start, I wasn't so confident and I wasn't having fun but that's normal. After I played great tennis and just relaxed.

"I cannot say it was a bad match - it was a great match from both sides.

"I was playing quite well but I didn't find the solution to win and that's the most frustrating thing. I had a few chances but I didn't take them."