The point counted, and Egli told Gaudio to serve again from the deuce side. Nalbandian, frustrated that the set was slipping away, briefly argued.
"So now he's going to serve two points to the same side?" Nalbandian said. "Maybe you have to change to another umpire."
Gaudio was amused by his mistake.
"I made history," he said. "It's the first time something like that happened in the French Open."
With the situation resolved, Nalbandian overcame three consecutive set points to reach 6-5, but Gaudio then closed out the set with an overhead slam.
From there, Nalbandian unraveled, struggling to keep the ball in the court. He won only seven points in the final set, and on the last point he dumped a forehand into the net, his 46th unforced error.
Nalbandian said he hurt his ribs in the quarterfinals and was hampered by the injury, especially when serving.
"Sometimes you're not feeling so good and you can't win any matches," he said.
Regarding the confusion about the score in the tiebreaker, Nalbandian faulted Egli.
"He did a very big mistake, like both of us," Nalbandian said. "The umpire has to be concentrating on the game. I think that kind of mistake is so big, they have to have a fine or something."
Forty-seven-year-old Martina Navratilova failed in her bid for a 32nd Grand Slam doubles title Friday at the French Open when she and partner Lisa Raymond lost in the semifinals.
The American pair was defeated by Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-4.
The result came a day after Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva won semifinals matches to set up the first all-Russian Grand Slam singles final.
While one Russian woman is assured the singles trophy, the doubles team will have to overcome top-seeded Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual.
This will be the ninth consecutive Grand Slam final for Suarez and Ruano Pascual -- the longest streak since Navratilova and Pam Shriver played in 11 in a row from 1983-85.
The Argentine and Spaniard have teamed to win five Grand Slam titles, including the 2001 and 2002 French Open. They won their semifinal Friday against Sandrine Testud and Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-1.
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