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Debate: Paris roused for showdown
Rafael Nadal celebrates his 19th birthday on Friday, the day he takes on top seed Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals. Opinion is divided between Eurosport journalists, who argue their cases for and against the pair. Join the debate and have your comments published prior to the crunch match.
FOR FEDERER
Prior to the French Open, Eurosport's James Buddell thought Rafael Nadal would become the first player since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the Roland Garros title at his first attempt. Now he's having his doubts. Roger Federer came into the event with ten clay-court matches under his belt. Crucially he won the Hamburg Masters title and has since grown in confidence with every round in Paris. The Swiss has yet to drop a set in the championships and while all the talk has centred on Nadal after his impressive clay season, Federer himself is on for a place in the history books. Federer is attempting to join an elite list of players who captured all four major championships in their careers - Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi. Against opening round opponents, Spain's Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile he demonstrated how capable he is of playing red dirt tennis. Federer crushed his opponents' resistance by winning the first sets and should he do so against Nadal, as the frontrunner he will be difficult to rein in. Federer may, like Nadal, be in his first French Open semi-final but has more experience of dealing with big match pressure. I expect a four-set victory for the top seed. FOR NADAL
Eurosport's Grégory Lanzenberg gives the edge to Rafael Nadal, the fourth seed, for three reasons. Both players met at the Miami Masters final in a best of five sets match with Roger Federer coming back from a two sets deficit to beat Nadal 2-6 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-1. Nadal lost through a lack of experience but he won't make the same mistake twice on his favourite surface: clay. Since the defeat the Spaniard has wracked up a 22-match winning streak, including tournament titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. Nadal is playing without pressure, only in the coming months after the dust has settled on the 2005 French Open will he appreciate what he has achieved. The Spaniard has built an aura over the past few months and he fears nobody! Nadal has a close-knit team around him that keep his feet on the ground. As long as the pressure doesn't get to him he will keep his focus for what is expected to be the match of the tournament. Nadal is fresh mentally and physically and will be ready to run for as long as it takes. For me, the question remains can Federer keep the same level of play for fours hours on clay against a player that can keep the ball going forever? Even though the world number one has not lost a set he spent more hours on the court than Nadal.
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