Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 09 June 2007 /

Defending champion Rafael Nadal, who is the 1.46 favourite to win the French Open title again this year, says he is expecting a 'great match' against Roger Federer (3.1) in the final.

Nadal was in imperious form as he swept aside Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the French Open semi-finals and will hope to make it a hat-trick of titles at Roland Garros against Federer, who had earlier defeated Nikolay Davydenko.

"The final should be a great match," said Nadal. "Any time you have the number one and number two in the world playing each other it is something special.

"He is playing well and has dropped just the one set in the tournament, so I will have to be at my very best to be able to beat Roger. I will do all I can to achieve that."

Federer dropped his only set in this latest Slam event when winning his quarter-final tie with Tommy Robredo, but will still go into the final with plenty of confidence especially having finally managed to break his duck against Nadal, when winning the Hamburg final last month.

However, Betfair punters make Nadal favourite to return to winning ways against Federer and in the 'Set Betting' market a 3-0 win for the 21-year-old is favourite at 3.65, marginally shorter than a 3-1 scoreline, which is trading at 3.7.

Nadal's latest victim Djokovic, is well aware of the task facing the world number one and speaking about Nadal, commented: "He's the best player in the world on this surface. He's physically stronger than any other player on the tour."

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