Rafael Nadal moved within one win of a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title by reaching the French Open final with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) victory over Diego Schwartzman on Friday.
Nadal was beaten by the 12th seed a little over two weeks ago on the clay courts in Rome, but the 12-time French Open champion showed he was still the undisputed king of Roland Garros as he notched up a 10th win in 11 meetings over the Argentine.
“I’m happy the way I played, how I’ve improved. Today was a very positive win for me,” the second seed said.
A victory on Sunday’s final for the 34-year-old left-hander will have him tied with Roger Federer’s singles record of 20 major titles.
The Spaniard reached his 13th French Open final without dropping a set. Schwartzman, playing his first Grand Slam semi-final, had two breakpoints in the opening game but Nadal saved both.
The duo traded double service breaks in the third before Nadal aced the tie-break without losing a point. Schwartzman found the net with a return to hand Nadal victory in three hours and nine minutes.
Polish teenager Iga Swiatek’s hopes of winning two crowns here evaporated when she, with Nicole Melichar of the US, lost to 14th seeds Alexa Guarachi of Chile and American Desirae Krawczyk 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4 in the women’s doubles semi-final.