Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are at the moment 27 on Friday with a Roland Garros final place at stake and with history on their shoulders.
World number one Djokovic ended the reign of nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, handing the Spanish just their second loss in 72 matches at Roland Garros in a decade of extraordinary mastery.
A win on Friday for the 28-year-old Serb was put in a third end in Paris and just one win away from a first trophy at the French Open and the Grand Slam, a feat accomplished by only seven other men .
It also would place halfway to become the third man to complete a calendar Grand Slam, so daunting mission that only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) have managed to pull it off.
Seeing off David Ferrer for the first time on clay, Murray became the first British man to make the semifinals in Paris on three occasions.
Friday’s win would make him the first Briton to reach the men’s final since Bunny Austin in 1937. Fred Perry, meanwhile, he remains the last king of Paris of Great Britain, who won the title in 1935.
Djokovic is 40-2 mark in 2015 having secured fifth Australia Open and Masters titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome.
On clay is 15-0.
Murray had never won a title on clay before this year – now two courtesy of Munich and Madrid.
He also has 15 wins to his credit in the clay with his only “loss” to David Goffin in Rome, just coming through a withdrawal.
But Djokovic will start favorite.
“Andy has improved on clay, no doubt about it,” Djokovic, who has achieved a 24th successive Grand Slam semi said.
His career in Paris last four has been achieved without losing a set. He has not even been pushed to the inconvenience of a tiebreaker.
“Andy is best moves, serving very well and has always had a touch. He is very talented and a great fighter.”
Djokovic has reached its fifth consecutive French Open semifinals and was a finalist on two occasions to Nadal in 2012 and 2014.
So something has to give on Friday in the red-hot atmosphere Court Philippe Chatrier, which is likely to be more intense courtesy of the heat of 30 degrees is expected at the end of the week.
When faced Murray in such conditions has been Djokovic, who has proved the most durable.
In the Australia Open final in January, he won the decisive fourth set 6-0 and repeated in the final of the Miami Masters in March, again 6-0 in the deciding set.
“If you get up to temperature, which will make it physically difficult and the court will be faster,” Murray said.
“But having not lost on clay this year and has some great victories on the surface is important to me (who defeated Nadal in the final in Madrid). I’m just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and have a good game plan. ”
The clash between third-seeded and has overshadowed Friday’s second semifinal between eighth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and French 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Wawrinka knocked out compatriot Roger Federer in the quarter-final clash in straight sets, while Tsonga reached his second semifinal in Paris for the extinction of fourth seed Tomas Berdych in the last-16 and fifth-seeded Nishikori Kei the rooms.
Wawrinka, the 2014 Australia Open champion, has won three of five meetings clay of the couple, including most recently in November, when Switzerland beat France in the final of the 2014 Davis Cup.
Tsonga is looking to become the first Frenchman to reach the final in Paris since Henri Leconte in 1988, while the household was last champion Yannick Noah in 1983.
But for the 30-year-old Tsonga’s first objective it is to end a run of four successive defeats in Grand Slam semifinals since joining the Australia Open final in 2008.
