Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic will face off in a blockbuster French Open final on Sunday.
World number one Djokovic, the 2016 French Open champion, reached his fifth final in Paris, defeating fifth seed Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1 in a roller-coaster of a contest where he had held a match point in the third set.
On his part, Nadal, the 12-time champion, defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) to make a 13th final at the tournament.
On Sunday, Djokovic can win an 18th major and become the first man in half a century to win all four Slams twice.
Nadal, the world number two, can equal Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam title wins.
Djokovic is one of only two men to have defeated Nadal at Roland Garros in 15 years. Sunday will be their 56th clash.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash Djokovic said:”This is the house of Rafa. I will have the motivation to win, I beat him here in 2015 but this will be the biggest challenge – playing Nadal on clay.”
Djokovic hailed Tsitsipas, who was appearing in the semi-final of a Slam for only the second time.
“Stefanos is a big player but after four hours he was tired. He gave me a lot of trouble. I looked calm on the surface but it was a different story inside,” added Djokovic who will be in his 27th Slam final
For 34-year-old Nadal, his win over Schwartzman was his 99th at Roland Garros.
He is into his 28th final at the majors and has not dropped a set in the tournament this year.
“It’s always incredible to play here and this is a very special moment,” said Nadal after a 10th win in 11 matches against Schwartzman who had shocked him in Rome last month.
“I played a couple of bad points in the third set but Diego is a very tough player. He probably makes more breaks on the tour than others.
“It was difficult until the end but it was a positive match for me.”
