Rafa's Date With Destiny

© AFP/Getty ImagesRafael Nadal is on a 20-match winning streak at Grand Slam championships.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal reached his first US Open final on Saturday afternoon to keep alive his bid to become the seventh man in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam.

The top-seeded Spaniard completed a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in two hours and 13 minutes. Nadal has not lost a set and has dropped serve just twice in six matches at Flushing Meadows this year.

"For me it is a dream," Nadal told 23,000 fans on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. "Now I am going to play for the first final in the biggest centre court in the world. I have tried for a lot of years. Thank you. You make me feel like home."

The 24 year-old is the second-youngest of six men to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the Open Era. If Nadal completes his set of major championships on Saturday, he would also be the second-youngest to do so after 1938 Grand Slammer Donald Budge, then aged 22. Budge made history 72 years ago today.

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Both players got off to a tentative start, but Nadal converted the first of his two break point opportunities at 2-1 - when Youzhny served at 15/40 - with a forehand winner. At 5-2, Nadal ripped a forehand crosscourt winner past Youzhny, serving at 30-40, to clinch the 42-minute opener. 

Nadal, who had taping re-applied to blistered toes on his left foot at 3-2 in the second set, broke Youzhny in the eighth game and served out to 15 for a two sets to love lead.

The match started to fall away from Youzhny when he hit a forehand wide at 30-40 in the third game of the third set. Having won a tough five-setter over No. 25 seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarter-finals, the Russian began to slow down in baseline rallies but continued to battle.

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For only the second time in 90 service games, Nadal had his serve broken when he led 4-3. Youzhny converted his first break point opportunity since the fifth game of the first set with a smash winner. Nadal bounced back immediately in a hard-fought ninth game, before reaching his 11th Grand Slam championship final (8-2 overall) with a service hold to love. 

On Sunday, Nadal will be looking to emulate fellow Spaniards Manuel Santana (1965) and Manuel Orantes (1975) as US Championships winners. He is the first Spaniard to reach the title match since former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003 (l. to Roddick).

As the winner of this year's Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles, he will also be bidding to follow Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer as the fourth man to three consecutive Grand Slam championships in the Open Era. The Mallorcan has a 20-match winning streak at major championships.

"Tough to say who is better than Rafa," Youzhny said. "I mean, he's No. 1 and he played really good tennis. I cannot say I'm really tired, but, yeah, [I] was not fast enough today. I was moving well, but my head was one step back of my hand and my legs."