Spaniard Rafael Nadal reached the men's singles final at the Olympic tennis event after thrashing Novak Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the semifinals on Friday.

The Serbian world number three hit a volley long to give the incoming world number one the first win on hard surface this season after battling for two hours and 10 minutes.

Nadal now leads 10-4 over Djokovic in career.

The 22-year-old will meet Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the final on Sunday while the Serb will face American eighth seed James Blake in the bronze medal match on Saturday.