Spaniard Rafael Nadal reached the men's singles final at the Olympic tennis event after thrashing Novak Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the semifinals on Friday.

The Serbian world number three hit a volley long to give the incoming world number one the first win on hard surface this season after battling for two hours and 10 minutes.

Nadal now leads 10-4 over Djokovic in career.

The 22-year-old will meet Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the final on Sunday while the Serb will face American eighth seed James Blake in the bronze medal match on Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)