Defending champion, Rafael Nadal turned 25 on Friday and gave the best possible gift to himself by making it to the final of the 2011 French Open, after earning a comprehensive win over fourth-seed Andy Murray with a 6-4 7-5 6-4 scoreline.

Though, Murray broke back three times in the match, the Scot never really looked in a commanding position, as Nadal came up with a fitting reply – every time, Murray tried to pour some pressure on him. The World No. 1 won this battle in 3 hours and 17 minutes, as he made the most of his devastating forehand and hammered 36 massive winners. Nadal duly got benefitted from Murray’s 40 unforced errors. The Spaniard converted 6 out of 13 break points to sail through.

Re-live the excitement of this duel!

The first-set was a see-saw affair, as both the players broke each other. But, after a mid-set debacle, the defending champion managed to win the first set with a 6-4 score. Nadal took 62 minutes to win the first set, as he hammered 12 winners, converted 2 out of 3 break points and earned 58% points on his first set. Well, Murray could only manage to convert only a single point - out of six in the first set.

The trend continued in the second-set too and Nadal took 73 minutes to win an interesting second-set. The World No. 1 hammered 13 winners and duly got benefitted from Murray's 16 unforced errors in the second-set. Nadal converted 3 out of 8 break points and earned 45 points in total to go two sets up in the match.

Murray was expected to bounce back in the third-set, but Nadal did not allow him to do so and earned the break in the opening game of the third set – and raced to a 2-0 lead before Murray could held on to his serve. Nadal maintained that lead till the end and emerged victories in three sets.

Nadal will take on the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, on Sunday, in the final of the 2011 French Open.