The world’s top two players, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, will contest Sunday’s French Open final following the Spaniard’s 6-3 6-2 6-1 centre court demolition of Andy Murray on Friday.
Earlier Djokovic had won through his semi-final with a 6-3 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over Ernests Gulbis Of Latvia.
Top seed and eight-time winner Nadal now stands just one win away from becoming the first man to take the French Open title five times in a row, surpassing Bjorn Borg.
He also is on the cusp of a 14th Grand Slam title, which would put him level at second best on the all-time list with Pete Sampras and three behind Roger Federer.
Murray failed in his bid to become the first British player to contest the French Open final since Bunny Austin 77 years ago and will now turn his attention to defending his Wimbledon crown.
It was his worst loss to Nadal in nine Grand Slam match-ups between the two, surpassing the nine games he managed in the 2008 Wimbledon quarter-finals.
“I think that today I played my best tennis at Roland Garros this year,” said Nadal.
“After 10 years of coming here and to be back in the final for the ninth time – it’s something I never believed would happen in my life.
“He (Djokovic) is an unbelievable opponent. He is always a big challenge and I need to play at my very best. He beat me the last few times we played.”
The win brought Nadal’s formidable record on the claycourts at Roland Garros, since making his debut in 2005, to 65 wins against the one loss, conceded to Robin Soderling of Sweden in a fourth round tie in 2009.
And it meant that he has now won 20 of the 23 Grand Slam semi-finals he has contested in his career, the last time he lost in the last four being against Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open.
Djokovic is into his 13th Grand Slam final and second at the French Open after ending the colourful Paris campaign of giant-killer Gulbis.
Victory on Sunday would make Djokovic only the eighth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam.
“I played really well in the first two sets with great concentration, but the hot conditions were very tough for both of us,” said six-time major winner Djokovic.
“I am always motivated to play well at Roland Garros. I need to push my body to the maximum as it’s hard to predict what will happen.”
Playing in his 22nd semi-final at a major compared to a debut appearance for Gulbis, the Serb was hardly troubled in the first two sets on a sweltering afternoon in the French capital.
But Gulbis, the 18th seed who defeated 17-time major winner Roger Federer and sixth seed Tomas Berdych to get to his first Grand Slam semi-final, rallied in the third to briefly breathe life into the contest.
In the end, however, Gulbis’s 44 unforced errors to Djokovic’s 25, as well as his ability to convert just two of his seven break points proved crucial.
“The difference was I’m not used to playing these kind of big matches,” said the 25-year-old from Riga.
“It’s just normal I felt extra nervous and extra tense. I can take one positive side out of the match – that I could still win a third set feeling that nervous and that extra tired.”
