Rafael Nadal will contest his eighth Roland Garros final after beating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7 in four hours and 37 minutes in a pulsating semi-final clash on Friday in Paris. 

The Spaniard will face either home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or fourth seed David Ferrer in Sunday’s final. He is chasing his 12th Grand Slam championship and has a winning FedEx ATP Head2Head record against both Tsonga (8-3) and Ferrer (19-4).

The 27-year-old Nadal has a 58-1 record at Roland Garros and is bidding to become the first man in history to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam. 

Nadal improved to a 20-15 record over Djokovic in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. He also defeated the Serb at Roland Garros in the 2012 final and in the 2007-08 semi-finals.