The clay court mastery of Nadal leads him to one win away from a record-extending 12th French Open title after a 6-3 6-4 6-2 semi-final victory over Roger Federer.
Federer meanwhile suffered his worst Grand Slam defeat in 11 years on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 33-year-old Nadal produced a masterful performance to set up a final clash with either world number one Novak Djokovic or Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem on Sunday.
Speaking in French after the match Nadal said, “It was very difficult, the wind was incredible but I am very happy to be into the final again.”
Even though strong winds prevented the contest from hitting the heights anticipated, there were many majestic and glorious moments to please the Philippe-Chatrier crowd.
The Spaniard broke the Swiss icon six times altogether in the match, crucially in the third and ninth games of the second set. He then broke twice more in the third set to seal his victory against one of his oldest rivals.
“It is incredible to play Roger here. Congratulations to him. He is probably the best player in history for me,” he said after the match.
