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Roger Federer's comeback at the French Open is over. But Rafael Nadal just keeps going as he usually does at Roland Garros after downing the Swiss 6-3 6-4 6-2 to reach a 12th final.
The 39th meeting of the tennis behemoths didn't match the drama of their 2008 Wimbledon epic or 2017 Australian Open classic but will be remembered for one big thing, the wind.
Organizers were surely relieved the rain that caused havoc Wednesday didn't resurface early Friday, yet Mother Nature still sought to intervene. And it did.
There was light drizzle for the captivating women's semifinals before a huge breeze rose up for the men's semifinals. Temperatures additionally struggled to top 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit).
Federer and Nadal, who own 37 majors between them, took turns pausing before serves as gusts blew clay into their eyes and the ball danced once airborne.
"The conditions out there today have been so hard, so difficult to manage," said Nadal. "Was the day to be just focus, accept all the adversities, and just be focused on positive all the time. That's what I tried to do."
Nadal awaits world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or last year's finalist Dominic Thiem on Sunday.
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