Roger Federer and Fernando Gonzalez are favourites to make the French Open Final

A 2007 Australian Open Final repeat could be on the cards

Over the course of the last 14 Grand Slams there has only been one final that has occurred more than once - with Roger Federer facing Rafael Nadal seven times in that period. However, the bookmakers make Federer and Fernando Gonzalez favourites to win their semi-finals and set up a repeat of the 2007 Australian Open Final. Here are all the key stats about today’s matches:

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Robin Soderling v Fernando Gonzalez
Soderling has taken care of David Ferrer, Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko to get this far but now has to conquer Gonzalez, who he has lost four straight clashes with, two of which were on clay. Over the last three years, every men’s semi-final at Roland Garros has been won by the player who won the pair’s previous meeting. Both men have had sensational tournaments so far, with Soderling dropping just two sets and Gonzalez one so it should be close. The Chilean is a worthy favourite though having excelled in his only other Grand Slam semi (Australian Open 2007), beating Tommy Haas 6-1 6-3 6-1.

Juan Martin del Potro v Roger Federer
20-year-old del Potro has enjoyed his best Grand Slam yet and brushed aside potential banana skins with relative ease but it looks like his journey will end today. Federer has a 5-0 record over the Argentine and hasn’t dropped a set in any of those games but it is the Swiss legend’s spectacular semi-final record that will provide the youngster with his toughest obstacle. The world number two has reached 14 of the last 15 Grand Slam finals and has won 18 of his 21 semis in total. The only men in history to beat Federer at this stage of a Slam are Marat Safin (Aus Open 05), Rafael Nadal (Fr Open 05) and Novak Djokovic (Aus Open 08) and they all went on to win the tournament.

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Posted: June 5th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn |