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10 June 2012| last updated at 07:43AM

TENNIS / FRENCH OPEN: Djokovic, Nadal to face off in fourth successive final



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NOVAK Djokovic and Rafael Nadal square off in a record fourth successive Grand Slam final today with the French Open title and a place in tennis folklore at stake.

A win for World No 1 Djokovic, playing in his first Roland Garros final, will make him only the third man in history -- and first in 43 years -- to hold all four majors at the same time.

Victory for World No 2 Nadal will mean becoming the first man to win seven French Opens, breaking a tie for six he currently holds with Swedish legend Bjorn Borg.

Nadal, with a staggering Roland Garros career record of 51 wins and just one defeat, is the overwhelming favourite, having reached his seventh final for the loss of just 35 games in six rounds.

He hasn't dropped a set and has lost serve just once.

Furthermore, Nadal came into Paris having secured claycourt titles in Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome, beating Djokovic in the finals of the last two in straight sets, breaking a seven-final losing streak to the Serb.

But Djokovic has won all of the last three Grand Slam title matches they have played -- at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2011, and this year's epic Australian Open which, at five hours 53 minutes, was the longest ever men's final.

Not that Djokovic is seeing that as a factor come today.

"This is a different surface, different circumstances," said the top seed, who reached the final with a straight sets semi-final win over Roger Federer, having saved four match points in his quarter-final win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"He always plays his best at Roland Garros, and so I expect him to do that as well on Sunday. I know that I have to be playing consistently well on a very high level in order to win best of five against Nadal."

Djokovic is happy to be going in as underdog having lost all three matches he has played against the Spaniard in Paris in 2006, 2007 and 2008, defeats handed out without even the consolation of one set in the Serb's possession.

"It's the ultimate challenge. He won the last two encounters we had on clay in Monte Carlo and Rome," said Djokovic, looking to win a sixth major today.

"But I won against him on clay last year two times, back-to-back in eight days, and that's something that is in the back of my mind. That's something that can give me confidence when I step on the court on Sunday."

Djokovic also believes that if he wins, and succeeds where both Nadal and Federer failed, by holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, then credit is due to his two main rivals.

He also won just four of the pair's first 18 matches on all surfaces while Federer beat him seven times in their opening nine meetings.

"I used to have a lot of doubts if I can really overcome the big challenge of the two strongest players in our sport," he said. AFP

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