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Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic will meet in French Open finals with history waiting

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal will meet for an eighth time at the French Open final this weekend.

Nadal can tie Roger Federer at 20 Grand Slam titles, the most all-time on the men’s side, with a victory on Sunday. Djokovic trails slightly behind at 17 overall.

Nadal going for 13th French Open title

Nadal, 34, dispatched 12th-seeded Diego Schwartzman with ease 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0) on Friday in the semifinals of the rescheduled tournament. He’s won the last three championships at Roland-Garros and has 12 overall. He had a streak of four consecutive titles from 2005-08 and five from 2010-14.

More impressive is his overall win record at the site: 99-2. He has two losses and nearly triple-digit wins. A championship will be his 100th even.

The 34-year-old is going for the record-tying 20th Grand Slam title. He has four victories at the U.S. Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.

Djokovic taken to fifth set in semifinal

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic near the tennis net.
Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Novak Djokovic will meet in the French Open final. (CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images)

Djokovic, 33, got a tougher test playing Stafanos Tsitsipas and had to come back in a fifth set after giving up the 2-0 set lead. He won 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1.

Djokovic had a match point in the third set, but dropped serve. He remains undefeated in completed 2020 matches and has lost only once in his career after leading by two sets-to-love.

It’s the first French Open final for Djokovic since he won it all in 2016. Nadal won every one after that.

American Sofia Kenin reaches French Open final

American Sofia Kenin advanced to the women’s final on Thursday with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. It’s the second career major final for the 21-year-old.

She will face Iga Swiatek, the 19-year-old from Poland, in the final on Saturday.

Kenin won the Australian Open in February and can rise to No. 3 in the rankings with a win. She would be the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win two trophies in the same year, and the third American woman to reach her first two Grand Slam finals in the same season.

There were only three Grand Slams this calendar year as Wimbledon was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The French Open was pushed from the second Slam of the year to autumn. The US Open played on schedule.

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