Nadal put in his best performance of the tournament by far as he strolled to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory over British Wimbledon champion, Murray.

Murray was hoping to become just the second man to beat Nadal at Roland Garros but instead rolled out to an almost humiliating defeat at the hands of the eight-time champion.

In fact the Briton could win only 10 points on the Nadal serve and went down in one hour and 40 minutes on a hot afternoon in the French capital.

Nadal took the first set in just 34 minutes before continuing to power through the second, just as the clock ticked over the hour mark.

Nadal's dominance became even more evident in this second set as he wrapped up the set without having faced a break point, or even been taken to deuce on his serve.

Murray needed seven minutes just to hold at the start of the third, but at 1-1 Nadal converted break point with a smash.

He broke through again for 4-1, and completed the drubbing by breaking again to take the win with a smash on his first match point.

Rafael Nadal moved a step closer to his ninth French Open title inside a decade as he strolled to victory in straight sets over Wimbledon champion Andy Murray ©Getty Images



"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."

It's six down, one to go for Djokovic as he looks to complete his Grand Slam set on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

The coveted prize has proved all-elusive for the former world number one to date, but he will get another stab at it on Sunday (June 8) after a confident win over Latvia's surprise semi-finalist Gulbis.

After easing through the first two sets against Gulbis - and doing an excellent job of subduing the Latvian's power - the heat began to take its toll in the third set.

The Serbian fought off break points in the second and sixth games before succumbing in the eighth when Gulbis fired a backhand winner down the line.

Novak Djokovic will hope to add a first French Open title to his collection after defeating Ernests Gulbis in their semi-final match up ©Getty Images



As the crowd came alive to a potential comeback, problems began to plague the Latvian's game as a back issue mixed with fatigue to halt Gulbis' charge.

The wind really went out of his sail in the eighth game as a double-fault and two errors gave Djokovic the chance to serve for the match, an invitation he didn't need sending twice.

"The first two sets went well," said Djokovic, who claimed the win 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

"Then suddenly midway through the third set I started to feel physically fatigued a little bit, and you could feel that.

"You could see that both me and him, we struggled on the court.

"It happens, you know.

"The important thing for me is that I realised what's going on.

"It's nothing serious.

"I'm going to have now two days of recovery and get ready for the final."

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