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The winner of today's blockbuster semifinal between World No. 1 Roger Federer and Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal will take on unseeded Mariano Puerta in the Roland Garros final. Puerta upset Nikolay Davydenko.

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Puerta sneaks past Davydenko into final

Friday, June 3, 2005

Mariana Puerta clearly has a flair for the dramatic. The 26-year-old is headed to his first career Grand Slam final after his second straight come-from-behind five-set victory.

The lefty, ranked 37th in the world, awaits Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in Sunday's French Open final after a 6-3 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4 defeat of 12th-seeded Nickolay Davydenko in front of a capacity crowd in Court Philippe Chatrier on a muggy Parisian afternoon. Puerta is the third Argentine in two years and the tenth unseeded male to play for the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Just like his quarterfinal tilt with compatriot Guillermo Canas, Puerta Friday took the first set rather impressively, only to lose his form and end up down two sets to one. But once again he found his game, while Davydenko slumped, and pulled out the victory.

When the draw came out two Fridays ago, a confident Puerta predicted a run to semi-finals as long as he got by Ivan Ljubicic, the 13th seed, in the first round. Few others shared that confidence, however, since Roland Garros is just his third Tour-level event since last summer and because he had never passed the third round here before. But Puerta, playing true clay court tennis, has now made good on his word and then some.

He needed some help from Davydenko, though, to do so. The Russian, who celebrated his 24th birthday Thursday, recovered from losing the first set on the strength of his first serve and smartly aggressive play. From 1-2 in the second through 3-1 in the third, Davydenko held seven consecutive times, losing just six points along the way.

But like his last match against Spaniard Tommy Robredo, Davydenko's level dropped after winning the third set. His first serve no longer as dominant a weapon, Puerta dug deeper into points and rediscovered his range on his groundstrokes. And just as he did against Robredo, Davydenko stumbled Friday with victory on the horizon, unable to hold at 4-2 in the fifth, and this time it cost him.

Puerta ran off the final four games of the match, clinching his trip to the final with a penetrating inside-out forehand approach that Davydenko barely touched.

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