World number one men's tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland and Spain's Rafael Nadal will meet Sunday in the finals of the Tennis Masters Series event in Rome.
Federer, the top seed, survived an error-plagued, three-set match with Argentina's David Nalbandian (6-3, 3-6, 7-6).
The Swiss player struggled with his accuracy, but was able to win and tie Guillermo Villas for the second-most consecutive finals in the Open era (13).
Nadal, the defending champion and world number two, scored a straight-sets win over another 19-year-old player, unseeded Gael Monfils of France, 6-2, 6-2.
Nadal has a 4-1 record against Federer on the ATP Tour, including beating the world number one in the semifinals of last year's French Open. This week's winner takes home $340,000.
Some information for this report provided by AP.