Rafael Nadal, Madrid Open
Tennis - ATP 1000 Masters - Madrid Open - Men's Singles Semifinal - Novak Djokovic of Serbia v Rafael Nadal of Spain - Madrid, Spain - 13/5/17 - Djokovic congratulates Nadal at the end of their match. Reuters / Susana Vera

World No. 4 Rafael Nadal and World No. 2 Novak Djokovic have been drawn to face each other in the semi-final of the upcoming French Open championship. While Nadal is chasing an unprecedented 10th Roland Garross title, Djokovic enters the tournament as an out-of-form defending champion with little expectations.

Odds makers and analysts have tipped Nadal as the overwhelming favourite to clinch the 2017 French Open. It would be his first Grand Slam victory since the 2014 French Open. The 30-year-old was up 2-1 in the fifth set of the 2017 Australian Open final until a remarkable comeback from Roger Federer denied the Spaniard his 15th Grand Slam title. This time around, Nadal wouldn't have to contend with Fedrer, who has skipped the clay-court season to focus on the grass and hard court seasons that follow.

The 2017 French Open draws were announced on Friday. World No. 1 Andy Murray is seeded to face 2015 French Open winner Stan Wawrinka in the other semi-final. If the seedings work out, Wawrkina would run into 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in one of the quarter-finals while Nadal would clash with Canada's Milos Raonic in his Round of 8 match. Djokovic is likely to run into budding young talent Dominic Thiem, who enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed and the player with the third best odds to win the title.

2017 French Open: Rafael Nadal enters with a 72-2 record

Nadal enters his happy hunting ground with an astonishing win/loss record of 72-2. His only two losses came to Djokovic in 2014 and Robin Soderling in 2009. During the latter, Nadal was playing through a injury.

Djokovic, the reigning champion, is having his statistically worst season since 2010. After relinquishing the World No. 1 ranking to Andy Murray in November, the 12-time Grand Slam champion suffered a shocking second-round defeat at the Australian Open to Denis Istomin followed by consecutive losses to Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco and Indian Wells. This clay-court season, Djokovic reached the quarters in Monte Carlo and semis in Madrid before losing to rising German star Alexander Zverev in the finals of the Rome Masters.

"It was one of my last dreams in terms of tournaments that I wanted to win here. It was missing from my list so I ticked it off and got the full set of Grand Slams. Looking at the trophy again brings back lots of memories. It was one of my most special feelings," Djokovic said during the 2017 French Open draw on Wednesday.

The 2017 French Open runs through May 28 and June 11. Rafael Nadal has the opportunity to become the first player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam on ten occasions. His overall Grand Slam tally stands at 14.