I don't know how he does it ...

Really, the man is either genius or demented ... never knowing when he's out, doggedly determined not to go down without a fight ... and boy, did he fight today.

Rafa was out of sorts from the start - was he ill? - he certainly needed a time out for a troublesome knee. He never turned up for the first set and was soon down 6-3. He was certainly struggling to keep up in the second, but somehow he kept in it and towards the end of the set, was playing the kind of tennis we'd come to recognise. And so to the tie-break - which Rafa came out the 7-5 winner.

The deciding set went with serve, with Rafa struggling in a couple of games, but the dreaded deciding tie-break to seal the match loomed large.

And so to the drama .... a back and forth breaker with Novak getting the first match points ... and losing them. Third seed Djokovic had three match points in all, at 6-5, 7-6 and 9-8 during the breaker, but Rafa held his nerve and showed his class to advance. He won on his second match point to take the match 11-9.

"It's happened too often," said Nole. "It's very disappointing to play as well as I have and still lose the match. I played one of my best matches ever. I was a couple of points from the victory. I even played a few points above my limits and I still didn't win."

All of this is true - and yep - the guy still did not win. Another super-human, unbelievable display from Rafa. The man is astounding ... but knackered. What on earth will happen to him tomorrow and whether he will have enough recovery time will be the big question.

But he's there ... he's in the final. Vamos Rafa!