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Federer Faces Nadal on Monte Carlo Final

The Monte-Carlo Masters` final will be an exciting one, with world number 1 Roger Federer faces defending champion Rafael Nadal, as both players secured a place in the final. The top-seeded Federer rolled past 12th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4, while the second-seeded Nadal duplicated his success against Argentina`s Gaston Gaudio.

After besting Gaudio in last year`s quarterfinal here, Nadal handed the seventh-seeded Argentinean a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 defeat on Saturday on the red clay at the prestigious Monte-Carlo Country Club. The seven-time Grand Slam titlist Federer, who is playing his first clay-court tennis of the year this week, blasted past Gonzalez in just less than one hour and nine minutes. He unleashed three aces and broke his Chilean counterpart three times. The Swiss star improved to 6-0 all-time against Gonzalez, which includes a 4-0 mark on clay. Federer also increased his ATP Masters Series events record winning streak to 29 matches. He has not been defeated in a Masters Series since a quarterfinal loss here last year to Richard Gasquet.

The reigning Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open titlist, Federer captured this year`s first two Masters Series events, at Indian Wells and Miami. Federer also ran his 2006 overall record to 33-1 and is seeking his fifth title of the year and 38th of his career. The world No. 2 Nadal, meanwhile, dropped his first set of the tournament, but broke Gaudio seven times to move to 3-3 all-time against the Argentinean. Nadal has won their last three meetings, however. The 19-year-old Nadal also took sole possession from Austrian standout Thomas Muster for the third-longest clay-court winning streak in ATP history after winning for the 41st consecutive time on clay. Argentine legend Guillermo Vilas is the all-time leader with 53 straight, while Swedish icon Bjorn Borg is next at 46.