Spain's Rafael Nadal underlined his dominance of men's tennis with a three-set win over Novak Djokovic to reach the Olympic Games final.
Nadal, who will face Chile's Fernando Gonzalez on Sunday, overcame a second-set lapse to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes.
A horrendous error from the third-ranked Djokovic sealed it for Nadal when the Serb missed the open court with an overhead on match point.
Nadal, who becomes world number one the day after the final, is now just one match away from adding the gold medal to this season's seven-trophy haul including the French Open and Wimbledon.
‘For me it's a dream have be in this final,’ he said. ‘When I arrived here, I didn't expect be in the final. I was very tired, with a lot of matches and not playing my best tennis.
‘But during the week I've felt better and better. So today was very important. Even if I lose the final I'll have one medal for me and for my country.’
The high-energy 22-year-old started with a bang, breaking at 1-0 and again at 3-1, before Djokovic picked up the pace.
He struck again in the decider when Djokovic was serving to stay in the match, returning the Serb's hardest forehand and retrieving a drop shot. Djokovic fired his smash wide on the second match point.
