Nadal seizes French Open final spot after epic defeat of Djokovic Rafael Nadal throws his sweat band into the crowd at Roland Garros as he celebrates match point in the men's singles semi-final against Novak Djokovic. Rafael Nadal has a shot at an eighth French Open title after beating world No.1 Novak Djokovic in an epic semi-final. RAFAEL Nadal outlasted Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set battle at the French Open to reach an all-Spanish final against David Ferrer. The seven-time champion eclipsed Djokovic 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 9-7 in four hours and 37 minutes of supreme tennis before Ferrer defeated an out-of-sorts Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 just before dark in the other semi-final on Court Philippe Chatrier. Ferrer was clinical to reach his first grand slam final, to be held on Sunday in Paris, but nothing could overshadow one of the most dramatic and high-quality matches ever seen at Roland Garros. Djokovic led 4-2 in the fifth set before Nadal, who was given a point penalty after two warnings for slow play, launched one last irrepressible charge. Djokovic was stripped a point for falling into the net before his winning shot had bounced twice at a crucial moment of 4-3 and deuce in the fifth set. The both played with aggression. They both defended to the hilt. They hit a combined 115 clean winners. While shorter than the Nadal-Djokovic classic that took five hours and 53 minutes at the Australian Open in 2012, this was every bit as nerve-racking and emotional. Nadal denied it was any form of revenge for his famous loss at Melbourne Park last year. "Revenge is not a word I use," he said. I never think in terms of revenge. When I'm on the court, the only thing that counts is to play well, to try to win and be 100 per cent present. I think it is a wrong philosophy if it's based on revenge. Tit for tat, I do not like. If you want to take your revenge it leads to more stress, I think. Why should I think about these far away countries and matches I have won or lost before? The only thing I knew here was that the fifth set dynamics were in my favour, completely different from the Australian Open. In Australia I lost the match. Here I won it. Nadal pulled off a series of last-gasp winners to keep himself in the fifth set until Djokovic broke. The ball-striking was faultless from both players and Nadal's retrieving was phenomenal. A capacity crowd at Roland Garros screamed themselves hoarse. Djokovic missed an easy smash, not for the first time, when serving at 7-8 before losing his serve to love and ending his dream of a first French Open title. "I will say something - you need to love the game," Nadal replied when asked how he won. When you love the game, you love what you are doing. You appreciate what you are doing in every moment. I have learned in my career to enjoy suffering. You don't have the chance to play these kinds of matches every day so when they happen and you suffer, I enjoy these moments. Everybody likes the sport because you see what it is. One person wins. Another person loses. But it's real and that's the beautiful thing. Djokovic was shattered and left to rue the schoolboy error of making contact with the net before the end of a point. "All I can feel now is disappointment," he said. Who knows which direction that match would have gone if I won that point. And I would have won that point in 99.9 per cent of cases. This is what happens. It was a bit unfortunate. He was much more aggressive and made some incredible shots. It went his way, and I congratulate him. Ferrer reached his first major final at his 42nd attempt. He has won only four his 23 matches against Nadal and was hardly sounding optimistic about his chances in the final. "It's difficult to beat him," Ferrer said. He's the best. The women's final will be held tonight from 11pm AEST between World No.1 Serena Williams and No.2 Maria Sharapova.