Roger Federer's hopes of lifting the 2005 French Open title came to an end tonight when he was beaten by Spanish prodigy Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
Fourth seed Nadal, who is celebrating his 19th birthday today, looked more at home on clay as he battled to a 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3 victory against the world number one.
He will now meet unseeded Mariano Puerto in the final after the Argentinian had earlier ousted 12th seed Nikolay Davydenko in a five-set thriller.
Puerta muscled his way to the first set but Davydenko, who turned 24 on Thursday, seized the initiative when he came back to take the next two with pinoint hitting.
The Argentine hung on grimly in the fourth to set up a decider and then recovered from 4-2 down in the fifth before clinching victory with a thunderous forehand after three hours 29 minutes.
