Nadal cruises to final

Updated 18.37 Fri Jul 04 2008

Keywords: wimbledon, Rainer Schuettler, rafael nadal

Rafael Nadal has cruised into the final of Wimbledon after beating Rainer Schuettler.

The Spanish second seed and French Open champion wrapped up a 6-1 7-6 6-4 victory in a minute over two hours to set up a mouth-watering final with arch-rival Roger Federer.

Nadal dominated proceedings with his powerful array of forehands and backhands making Schuettler, his senior by ten years, look hapless and completely outclassed

At 94th in the world, Schuettler was the lowest-ranked man to reach a Wimbledon semi-final since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.

But a repeat of Ivanisevic's fairytale victory was never on the cards for the German, with Nadal quickly establishing a stranglehold on the match.

The Spaniard raced through the first set, taking it in just 23 minutes.

Schuettler, who had less than 24 hours to recover from his quarter-final against Arnaud Clement that spanned two days, broke in the third game of the second.

But he let the advantage slip when he was serving for the set and allowed Nadal to break back.

Nadal, who is seeking his first title at the All England Club, was dominant in the tie-break and continued the momentum for an early break in the third.

He wasted three match points on Schuettler's serve before nailing victory when the German returned wide.

World number one Federer earlier eased into his sixth consecutive Wimbledon final with a straight-sets win over underdog Marat Safin.