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Winner to play Djokovic or Thiem on Sunday
Second seed Rafael Nadal and third seed Roger Federer will renew their treasured rivalry in semi-final action on Friday at Roland Garros. The winner will face top seed Novak Djokovic or fourth seed Dominic Thiem in the championship match.
“I'm very happy to play Rafa because if you want to do or achieve something on clay, inevitably, at some stage you will go through [him],” said Federer. “I knew that when I signed up for the clay [and] hoped it was going to happen. If I would have had a different mindset to avoid him, then I should not have played the clay.”

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@rafaelnadal v. @rogerfederer

Their first @FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting in two years takes place on Friday at #RG19.

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Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head clash between these players?#RG19
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9:16 PM - Jun 6, 2019
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Nadal leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Federer 23-15, but Federer has won their past five matches. The Spaniard leads their series on clay 13-2 and has won their past four meetings on the surface, but they haven’t played on it since the 2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia final. Nadal has won all five of their previous clashes at this event, prevailing in the 2005 semi-finals and championship matches in 2006-2008 and 2011.
Although Federer hasn’t beaten Nadal on clay since the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open final, he believes he can reverse the trend.
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"Like against any player, there is always a chance. Otherwise nobody will be in the stadium to watch because everybody already knows the result in advance,” said Federer. “That's exactly what everybody believes by facing Rafa.
“They know it's going to be tough. [But] he might have a problem. He might be sick. You might be playing great or for some reason he's struggling. Maybe there's incredible wind, rain, 10 rain delays. You just don't know. That's why you need to put yourself in that position.”
Competing in the second major of the year for the first time since 2015, Federer has dropped just one set in reaching the semi-finals. The 2009 champion holds a 70-16 career record at this event and has reached at least the semi-finals in eight of his 12 most recent appearances. But despite his impressive credentials, Federer will arrive on Court Philippe-Chatrier as the on-paper underdog against Nadal and that could aid him in swinging freely.
More On Roger vs Rafa, XXXIX
* The Rivalry: 12 Stats You Need To Know
* Federer & Nadal's 10 Best Quotes About Each Other
* The History Of Nadal vs. Federer In Paris
* Can You Pass Our Federer-Nadal Quiz?
* Roger & Rafa: Every Match Ever Played
Nadal has put himself in position to win a 12th title at this event. The two-time defending champion has also only dropped one set this fortnight, but his scorelines throughout the tournament have been even more dominant than Federer’s. Nadal holds a staggering 91-2 record in Paris and has reached at least the semi-finals in 12 of 15 career appearances.
But while the Spaniard is highly familiar with the business end of this tournament, he views Friday’s match as one of the most important of his career.
“Playing Roger again in [the] semi-finals, these are the moments for which we are working on a daily basis and for which we get prepared as best we can,” said Nadal. “Beyond winning or not, we really want to be competitive and to fight in the most correct way and to enjoy that.”
Typical to Nadal’s character, he shunned suggestions that he’s the favourite to win. He pointed out that he hasn’t beaten the Swiss star since the 2014 Australian Open and said that Federer remains one of the most dangerous clay-court players on tour.
Read: Nadal On Federer: 'We Shared The Most Important Moments'
“He came back on clay because he's a player who is comprehensive, who plays well on all surfaces. And he has good chances of winning on clay,” said Nadal. He's coming back because he wants to do so. If he feels in good shape physically, he should not leave out a main part of the season.
“I have to be solid. If I am able to play good tennis and play well with my forehand and backhand, I hope to put him in trouble. If not, I will be in trouble.”
ORDER OF PLAY - FRIDAY, 7 JUNE 2019
Court Philippe Chatrier start 12:50pm
[3] Roger Federer vs [2] Rafael Nadal
followed by
[1] Novak Djokovic vs [4] Dominic Thiem

Friday's semi-final will be the sixth Rafa-Roger match at the clay-court Grand Slam

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet at Roland Garros for the sixth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry on Friday, with a place in the 2019 championship match on the line.

Nadal enters the match with a perfect 5-0 record against his great rival at the second Grand Slam event of the season and has dropped only one-set en route to the last four this year. In his quarter-final match, the 33-year-old cruised past seventh seed Kei Nishikori for the loss of just five games to move two wins away from a record 12th Roland Garros crown. Nadal owns an unbeaten 22-0 record in Roland Garros matches after reaching the semi-final stage.

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"Having Roger in front [of me] in the semi-finals is an extra thing," said Nadal. "We shared the most important moments of our careers together on court facing each other. So it's another episode of this, and I'm happy for that and excited. It will be a special moment."

Despite his painful history with Nadal at Roland Garros, Federer has reason to believe he can produce an upset Friday, having won his past five matches with the Spaniard. The Swiss' winning run against the lefty began at the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel final, before sweeping their four encounters during the 2017 season. Nadal's last victory against Federer came in the 2014 Australian Open semi-finals.

Federer's decision to return to Roland Garros for the first time since 2015 has proven successful. The 37-year-old made it through to the quarter-finals in Paris without dropping a set, before an impressive four-set win against 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.

More On Roger vs Rafa, XXXIX
* Preview: Nadal & Federer Face Off In SF
* The Rivalry: 12 Stats You Need To Know
* Federer & Nadal's 10 Best Quotes About Each Other
* The History Of Nadal vs. Federer In Paris
* Can You Pass Our Federer-Nadal Quiz?

"I'm very happy to play Rafa," said Federer. "Because if you want to do or achieve something on the clay, inevitably, at some stage, you will go through Rafa, because he's that strong and he will be there."

But will Federer's form and recent record against the 81-time tour-level titlist prove enough for him to join Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic as only the third man to beat Nadal at this event? ATPTour.com looks back at how Nadal has defeated Federer in each of their previous five clashes in the French capital:

2011 Roland Garros final, Paris, clay, Nadal d. Federer 75 76(3) 57 61
Nadal and Federer contested a Grand Slam final for the eighth time when they met in the Roland Garros final, and it was Nadal who prevailed as he finished strongly to end Federer’s bid for a second title at the clay-court major in three hours and 40 minutes. The Spaniard had also beaten Federer in the Roland Garros final from 2006-2008.

Having ended Novak Djokovic’s 41-match unbeaten run in 2011 in the semi-finals, Federer hoped his top form would be enough to dethrone Nadal in Paris and made a strong start as he raced to a 5-2 lead. The Swiss squandered a set point chance in the eighth game, though, and it sparked the Nadal comeback as the Spaniard reeled off five straight games to take the opener.

Nadal capitalised on his momentum to break early in the second set, and was serving for the set at 5-4, deuce, when a heavy shower suspended play for 10 minutes. Upon resumption Federer broke back, but Nadal regained his composure in the tie-break to take a commanding two-set lead.

The top-seeded Nadal broke through in the sixth game of the third set, but had no chance to build on his lead as the resilient Federer immediately struck back with a service break to love. The Swiss then delighted the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd, and stunned Nadal, as he won four of the next five games to claw his way back into the match.

The key stage in the fourth set came in the opening game as Federer squandered a 0/40 opportunity on Nadal’s serve. From there the tide swiftly turned in Nadal’s favour as he broke serve twice, dominating the baseline rallies as he raced through to claim victory.

2008 Roland Garros final, Paris, clay, Nadal d. Federer 61 63 60
After contesting closely fought battles in the finals of Monte-Carlo and Hamburg in the lead up to Roland Garros, much was expected when Roger Federer stepped up to face Rafael Nadal in their 17th career meeting. However the match proved to be the most one-sided encounter between the pair.

Nadal enjoyed the better start in the match, breaking Federer's serve in the first game courtesy of one of an eventual 49 unforced errors from the Swiss’ racquet. From there, Nadal did not look back and went on to break the Federer serve twice more to seal the set 6-1 as Federer drifted a forehand volley long.

After fighting back from an early break down in the second set, Federer had the chance to gain a key break though when presented with a break point chance in the seventh game. However, he was denied and, after failing to take his opportunities, the Swiss No. 1 was immediately under pressure and conceded his own serve as another backhand pass from Nadal was just out of his reach. Nadal was quick to extend his lead, closing out the set 6-3 as Federer returned serve long.

The third set lasted just 27 minutes as Nadal broke serve three times to secure the match victory after just one hour and 48 minutes, and hand Federer his first bagel set since June 1999, as the Swiss fired a forehand long, prompting muted celebrations from Nadal after the comfortable win.

Read: Federer Puts Up 'Help Wanted' Sign In Paris Ahead Of Nadal Clash

2007 Roland Garros final, Paris, clay, Nadal d Federer 63 46 63 64
The stakes were higher than ever when Federer and Nadal clashed in the 2007 Roland Garros final. For the second consecutive year Federer was attempting to become just the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam titles and to be just the third man to hold all four majors at the same time. Nadal was looking to join Bjorn Borg as the only player to win three consecutive Roland Garros crowns.

Earlier in the clay swing, Nadal had beaten Federer in the Monte-Carlo final but Federer avenged that defeat with his first clay court victory over Nadal in the Hamburg final.

Federer took the fight to Nadal early, earning 10 break point chances over three consecutive Nadal service games in the first set. But the tough Spaniard refused to buckle and scrapped to win the first set. Although Federer rebounded to win the second set, Nadal's ability to fight off 16 of 17 break point opportunities in the match proved the telling factor.

Federer returned more aggressively - particularly on the backhand - to try to stop Nadal from controlling points, but, as in past meetings, the Spaniard's high kicking left-handed forehands into his backhand were too much for Federer to handle.

2006 Roland Garros final, Paris, clay, Nadal d. Federer 16 61 64 76(4)
Playing in his first Roland Garros title match, Federer was attempting to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four straight Grand Slam events, and just the third player in history to achieve the feat.

Nadal was looking to become the youngest player to defend the Roland Garros title since Bjorn Borg in 1974-75. The Spaniard also was trying to improve his perfect record at Roland Garros to 14-0, his clay court winning streak to 60 matches and to notch his 100th career clay court win.

Federer broke Nadal twice in the first set to race to a 5-0 lead. But then Nadal began to dominate the match with his crushing forehand and Federer struggled with many unforced backhand errors.

Nadal did not drop serve again until he tried to close out the match at 5-4 in the fourth set. But he clinched the match soon after in the tie-break. Nadal won his 14th consecutive final (second only in the Open Era to Federer's mark of 24 straight finals won).

Read Nadal On Facing Federer: 'We Shared The Most Important Moments'

2005 Roland Garros semi-final, Paris, clay, Nadal d. Federer 63 46 64 63
Theirs was the most eagerly awaited match of the tournament. Federer was already No. 1 in the world and fast-rising Nadal was at No. 5.

Nadal came to Roland Garros on the heels of clay-court titles in Monte-Carlo in April (d. Coria) and in Rome in May (d. Coria again). Federer, meanwhile, was fresh off of his second straight clay-court crown in Hamburg in May (d. Gasquet).

Federer evened the score by winning the second set, but after that his form fell as the wet and dark conditions set in. Nadal kept the pressure on, ousting Federer in four sets on the way to winning the Roland Garros title on debut (d. Puerta in the final).