Federer (left) and Nadal (right)

PARIS (AP):

Twice Roger Federer took an awkward spill yesterday, leaving the regal champion sprawled on the clay that has tripped him up before.

The French Open can be humbling, as Federer well knows, but he'll try again for his first Roland Garros title tomorrow against nemesis Rafael Nadal.

The top-ranked Federer endured some messy moments in the semi-final. Knocked down but not out, he wiped off the dirt and defeated unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Only by his standards

Nadal's earlier semi-final was close only by his standards. He lost 12 games and nearly conceded a set. The king of clay beat No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Nadal had lost only three games in each of his previous two matches. He's one win from becoming the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win four consecutive French Open titles, while Federer seeks the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win.

"Against Federer is special," Nadal said. "I will try and face history."

Nadal has beaten Federer at Roland Garros each of the past three years.

"It will be fun to play him again," Federer said. "I will try everything. I hope I will finally win here."

Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina will bid for their first Grand Slam title today in the women's final.

For a brief time, the Nadal-Federer rematch appeared in jeopardy. Federer struggled against Monfils, especially in the final game of the second set, when he looked nervous serving and shanked a forehand on the final shot.

The partisan crowd roared, sensing a possible upset, but Federer regained his composure and endured some brilliant play by the streaky Monfils down the stretch.

"He was magnificent," Federer said. "He was always trailing, but he hung tough, he fought back. It almost paid off. At the end, anything could have happened. So I'm very relieved."

Crisp backhand

Scrambling rallies twice sent Federer tumbling, while Monfils fell at least four times. Playing aggressively, Federer reached the net on 64 points - a lot on clay - and won 49. The last was a crisp backhand volley to break Monfils in the final game. A jubilant Federer pumped his fist, then wearily leaned on the net and shook his head, glad to be still on his feet after three hours of taxing tennis.

Big serving helped Federer, who erased 10 of Monfils' 13 break-point chances. But Federer knows Nadal won't be so easily deterred.

For the fourth consecutive year in Paris, Federer seeks to become the sixth man to have won all four Grand Slam events. Nadal defeated him in the semi-finals in 2005, and in the finals in 2006 and 2007.

This year the Spaniard appears more dominant than ever. He eliminated Djokovic from the tournament for the third consecutive year and improved to 27-0 at Roland Garros.

Borg watched from the first row behind the baseline and rose with the rest of the crowd to applaud when Nadal completed his latest victory.

"Unbelievable memories on this court," Borg said. "It's emotional for me every year when I come back here."

Four consecutive finals

Nadal became the first man since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to reach four consecutive French Open finals. The result prevented Djokovic from overtaking Nadal for the No. 2 ranking.

"The first two sets were very good today, almost perfect," Nadal said. "I was very dominant. I could hit the ball anywhere I wanted."

Nadal repeatedly lured Djokovic into long baseline rallies and won most of them, pushing the Serb from corner to corner with his muscular groundstrokes.

"He plays every point like it's a match point," Djokovic said.