Rafael Nadal came out on top as one of the great tennis rivalries of all time resumed in Montreal on Saturday evening.
The Spaniard overcame world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6 7-6 to reach the final of the Rogers Cup, where he will face local favourite Milos Raonic.
Nadal and Djokovic have now played each other on 36 occasions - a figure that sees them tied with Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe for the record of most meetings between two players in the Open era.
After winning the toss and electing to receive, Nadal broke to 30 in the opening game and then saved three break points en route to holding serve in the second.
The next four games went comfortably with serve, before a double fault handed Nadal another break and a 5-2 lead.
With some fearless ball striking, Djokovic immediately responded by winning eight of the next 12 points to close the gap to 5-4.
Far from rattled by losing his previous service game, Nadal confidently held to 15 in game 10 to seal the opening set after 44 minutes.
The next seven games passed by without a single break point, but Djokovic then pounced to seize control of the second set at 5-3 when Nadal squandered a 40-0 lead on his own serve.
Djokovic survived a single break point before holding to force a deciding set.
The Serb's short temper made an appearance midway through the decider. With the scores at 2-2 30-30, Nadal hit a backhand that fired straight into the throat of his great rival, who was at the net.
Nadal offered an apology, which Djokovic grumpily refused.
The Spaniard came agonising close to securing a 5-3 deciding-set lead when, on his second of two break points, he unleashed an outrageous cross-court backhand that dropped just millimetres wide.
Djokovic managed to cling onto his serve and he eventually forced a tie-break, which Nadal thoroughly dominated, winning it 7-2.
Nadal has now beaten Djokovic in 21 of their 36 meetings.
Robert Summerscales
