Birthday boy takes the cake

Fourth seed Nadal extended his winning streak on clay to 23 matches and will be the overwhelming favourite to take the title when he faces Puerta in Sunday’s final.

The unseeded Puerta advanced by wearing down Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 earlier on a stormy day.

Puerta’s centre court triumph over Davydenko was reward for battling back from two years in the wilderness following a nine-months drugs ban that he claimed was unjust.

He had failed to get past the third round of any Grand Slam event in his career, but a drastic weight-loss programme had left him fitter than ever this year and he devoted himself to the claycourt season.

“I feel like I am in paradise,” he said after finishing off the 3hours 30minutes tie. I trained so hard for this and put so much in to win this match. It was like being back in buenos aires with all my supporters in the crowd.”

It was one of those unexpected semi-finals that the French Open has a habit of throwing up. The big names in the bottom half of the draw, Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Marat Safin and Guillermo Coria were all sent packing early.

Left standing were two of the sports’s journeymen — Puerta a once promising youngster who fell foul of drugs and injuries and Davydenko, a frail-looking slogger who dislikes playing when it is too hot. But the 24-year-old Russian had nothing to worry about for the biggest match of his tennis career as blustery thunderstorms delayed the start of the tie for 1hoUrs 40minutes.

When it did finally get underway the 26-year-old Puerta took immediate command, his wristy groundstrokes forcing davydenko onto the backfoot.

They exchanged service breaks in the fifth and sixth games, but Puerta broke again two games later with a finely-judged forehand, crosscourt passing shot.