Nadal storms past Melzer into French Open final
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}By Martyn Herman
PARIS (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal powered into the French Open final with a commanding straight sets victory over surprise semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer on Friday.
Austrian Melzer, contesting his first grand slam semi-final, played brave attacking tennis and briefly rocked Nadal with an impressive late fightback.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nadal broke the Melzer serve in the sixth game of the first set and was cruising until he dropped serve at 5-4 in the third set but steadied himself to win a tiebreak.
Robin Soderling, whose win over the Spaniard in last year's fourth round was Nadal's first Roland Garros loss, awaits in the final after his five-sets win against Tomas Berdych.
(Editing by Martyn Herman)