Federer faces Nadal in French Open final after ending Djokovic's run

Second seed Djokovic had been seeking to equal John McEnroe's 1984 record of 42 successive wins at the start of a season, but was denied his first final appearance at Roland Garros by the 16-time grand slam champion.

Federer, the 2009 winner in Paris, triumphed 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in three hours and 39 minutes in one of the all-time classic matches to prevent Djokovic taking top spot in the world rankings from Nadal.

The Spaniard, seeking to clinch a record sixth French Open title, booked his place in Sunday's final with a 6-4 7-5 6-4 win over British fourth seed Andy Murray in the opening semi.

"I had nerves and this wasn't even the final," Federer, who has never lost a grand slam match after leading by two sets, told reporters.

I have worked a lot in my life and it's for these types of matches. It was certainly one of my greatest matches in an extraordinary atmosphere.

"It was probably the best match I have played this year. There were breaks, break backs. It's always intense when we play and I wanted to make it as physical as I could."

Djokovic had been unstoppable this year, winning seven titles as he beat Federer in his first three events of 2011.

But the Swiss third seed has battled through a disappointing year so far by his high standards to give himself a chance of extending his record tally of grand slams.

The 29-year-old won the first set in 70 minutes and the second in just 45 before his Serbian opponent dug deep to reduce the deficit.

The fourth set continued the extraordinarily high level of tennis on show, as Djokovic broke to lead 5-4 before Federer immediately returned the favor to level.

A cheeky drop shot gave him the opening point of the tie-break, and Djokovic saved two match-points -- the second with an ace -- to give himself hope at 6-5.

But, with darkness growing at the local time of 9.35 p.m., Federer showed immaculate poise to blast one of his own down the middle to set up his 25th career meeting with Nadal.

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