— FRENCH OPEN — Nadal, Soderling in the final

Associated Press

PARIS

All Rafael Nadal cares about is winning a fifth French Open championship.

Doesn’t matter how he’s played until now.

Doesn’t matter that he can regain the No. 1 ranking with one more victory.

And, the Spaniard insists, it certainly doesn’t matter to him one bit that in Sunday’s final, he gets a chance to face the only man he’s lost to at Roland Garros, Sweden’s Robin Soderling.

The tantalizing prospect of a Nadal-Soderling rematch with a Grand Slam title on the line is something for others to ponder.

“I never believe [in] revenge,” Nadal said after he and Soderling won their semifinals Friday. “I will be as happy or as disappointed if I lose to Robin or to any other player. I don’t think this is going to change the way I’ll approach the match.”

Perhaps that’s true. Still, there’s one key stat that won’t go away: Nadal boasts a 37-1 career record at the French Open, with Soderling responsible for the lone setback, upsetting the four-time champion in the fourth round a year ago en route to a runner-up finish.

“It’s always good to have beaten a player before. I know that I can beat him. I showed it,” said Soderling, who knocked off defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals Tuesday. “But, again, every match is a new match, and every match is different.”

Friday’s two semifinals hardly could have contrasted more.

First came the No. 5-seeded Soderling’s grueling, serve-it-and-slug-it victory over No. 15 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, a 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 test that required 31/2 hours. Then came the No. 2-seeded Nadal’s far-less-competitive 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over No. 22 Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

“Hopefully,” Soderling said, “I won’t be as nervous as I was last year.”

Also on Friday, Venus and Serena Williams won their fourth consecutive major doubles title.

“A Williams slam,” Serena called it.

The sisters earned their 12th Grand Slam title by beating Katarina Srebotnik and Kveta Peschke 6-2, 6-3.

“It’s really tough when you play one Williams,” Venus said. “When you play two, it’s really not easy.”

The sisters will be ranked No. 1 in doubles for the first time next week in a partnership that began in the 1980s.