Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only men to have won each of the four Grand Slams on two or more occasions but no one has achieved the feat since 1968, when the  sport  allowed  professional  players  to  compete  at  the majors.

A second trophy at Roland Garros, after his 2016 triumph  on  the  red  clay,  on  Sunday  will  also  give  the  34-year-old  Serbian  his  19th  Grand  Slam  title  -  one  short of Nadal and Roger Federer’s men’s record. His challenger will be a 22 year old who is bidding to become the first Greek to win a singles major.

Tsitsipas  has   long   been   marked out as a future Grand Slam  champion  and  has  already collected trophies from the season ending ATP  Finals and a Masters 1000 tournaments.

But  he  had  drawn  a  blank  the  three  times  he  reached  the last-four stage at a major before    Friday’s    semi-final    where he took down US Open finalist  Alexander  Zverev  in  a thrilling five-set duel.The first Grand Slam finalist from Greece will arrive on  Court  Philippe  Chatrier  on  Sunday  with  a  2-5  win-loss  record  against  the  Serbian  but  will  draw  inspiration from the fact that he has a Tour-leading win tally in 2021.

“I’m  looking  forward  to  that  challenge,”  Tsitsipas  said on Friday, looking ahead to his first major final. Nothing less than his ‘A’ game would suffice for the Greek  as  he  has  never  managed  to  defeat  Djokovic  on  clay  though  he  took  the  Serbian  to  five  sets  in  the  semi-finals at the same venue last year.

The emotions of Friday’s fantastic win over 13-time French Open winner Nadal might leave a hangover for most players but that might not be a problem for Djokovic with his incredible mental strength.“It’s not the first time that I play an epic semi-final in a Grand Slam and then I have to come back in less than 48 hours and play finals,” he said.“My  recovery  abilities  are  pretty  good,  I  must  say,  throughout my career ... I know what I need to do.”