Nadal ends Schuettler's surprise run

LONDON (Reuters) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal set up a third successive Wimbledon final with holder Roger Federer when he ended the surprise run to the last four of unseeded German Rainer Schuettler 6-1 7-6 6-4 on Friday.

"I'm very happy...now I must try my best on Sunday to beat the best player in the world," the Spaniard said after the second semi-final on Centre Court.

World number one Federer, looking to win a sixth title in a row, beat unseeded former world number one Marat Safin in straight sets in the first semi-final.

Schuettler, 10 years older than 22-year-old Nadal, did his best to offer some resistance to the muscular Majorcan after his exhausting five-setter against Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

That quarter-final spanned two days and ended only on Thursday afternoon after five hours and 12 minutes on court interrupted by rain delays on both days.

On Friday The first set was one-sided from the moment world number two Nadal won Schuettler's opening service game to love. The German won his first point in the third game but was broken again as Nadal found the corners and lines with relentless precision.

Nadal took the set with his second set point when Schuettler, whose previous best at a grand slam tournament was reaching the Australian Open final in 2003, netted a backhand.

The German, making a mockery of his ranking of 94 in a purple patch in the second set, proceeded to find his length and the right weight to his crosscourt drop shots and volleys, using one of these to break Nadal in the third game.

KEY BREAK

He could not keep it up when it mattered most, though, serving for the set. His length suddenly deserted him and successive shots that fell beyond the baseline set Nadal up to break back.

Nadal raced into a 6-3 lead in the tiebreak and took it with his first set point when Schuettler hit a shot wide.

The Spaniard, who took his tally against Schuettler to 4-1 having lost their first meeting at Basel in 2004, broke in the third game of the deciding set when the German volleyed wide with Nadal stranded on the other side of the court.

Schuettler successfully defended three break points when he served to stay in the match, one when Nadal smashed into the net with the German at his mercy.

Nadal then took the match on the first of three match points on his own serve to finish in one minute over two hours.

The Spaniard, who had barely one unforced error in the opening set, amassed 18 over the three and will be looking for an improvement in his game on Sunday even if he has been in devastating form over the whole tournament.

"Today it was maybe not my best match here but it was very important for me to win in three sets," said Nadal, who crushed Federer in the final at Roland Garros in their last meeting, allowing the Swiss only four games.

(Editing by Clare Lovell)