French Open 2019: 5 things you must know about Federer-Nadal rivalry

Nadal Leads the Career Head to Head in all ATP Matches as well, with a 23-15 record over Roger Federer

Federer has only recently bettered his record against Nadal, winning the last six consecutive matches.

If there is one player in the world who can write a book on how to defeat Roger Federer, it has to be Rafael Nadal. Nadal has beaten Federer in 23 out of the 38 ATP matches between the two champions. Nadal has won a staggering 61% of his matches against Federer, even with Federer winning all six of their most recent encounters.

Nadal has enjoyed three streaks of five consecutive wins against Federer - between the 2005 and 2006 French Open, between the 2008 Monaco Masters and the 2009 Australian Open, and between the 2013 Indian Wells and the 2014 Australian Open.

With eleven French Open title victories and a clean record against Federer here, Nadal looks almost certain to win Friday's encounter. But his recent record against Nadal - remember Federer last lost to Nadal way back in January 2014 in any ATP match - might just work out as a psychological advantage for Federer.

The same way Federer defied the odds by showing he can beat Nadal at a Grand Slam, even after losing against him for five consecutive matches and almost ten years, he can possibly also topple the 'King of the Clay' at his favorite venue.

While Nadal is a favorite for this match, Federer is the king of surprises - something he has proved time and again during the course of his career. Though we've all said this thing many times in the past decade, this well might be the last time you will be able to witness arguably the most anticipated rivalry in the history of modern sport.

Though all tennis fans would hope for a few more encounters between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the big stage, let's just absorb every moment of Friday's match, which has kept us waiting for two years.