French Open 2012 Semifinals: Rafael Nadal vs. David Ferrer

These are the Grand Slam matches that you love to see.

Guys that are good friends and respect each other on and off the court competing together for the Davis Cup.

While it may be true that not many people saw a Rafael Nadal-David Ferrer semifinal at the 2012 French Open, nobody can say that it's not going to be a matchup between the pair.

Here's a look at their history, the tournament thus far and my predictions for this semifinal matchup.

History

Previous matches against Nadal haven't been too kind to Ferrer.

Throughout their match history, which began in 2004, Nadal has won 15 of the 19 matches they've played, although Ferrer has won two of the three times they've faced off in a Grand Slam.

Nadal has won the previous four matches, and 11 of the last 12, but Ferrer's one win during that time frame came at the 2011 Australian Open.

Ferrer's lone loss to Nadal in a Grand Slam came at Roland Garros in 2005.

But, the one glaring statistic on the board against Ferrer is that he's only beaten Nadal once in 12 tries on clay, and that win came in their first ever match-up in Germany in 2004.

So, history really isn't on the side of Ferrer.

Nadal Thus Far

Nadal has been on top of his game throughout the tournament, having yet to lose a set.

In fact, he's only allowed 30 set points during the tournament, with only one set throughout the tournament having gone to a tiebreaker.

If that's not dominating, I don't know what is.

Nadal is going to be extremely hard to beat, especially in a tournament he's won six of the last seven years.

Ferrer Thus Far

Ferrer has also been strong throughout the tournament, not dropping a set in the first four rounds, allowing 25 total set points in the first four rounds.

Then, in the quarterfinals, things hit a snag for a moment with No. 4 seed Andy Murray.

Ferrer won the first set 6-4, before dropping the second set 7-6 (3). The Spaniard, however, regrouped to win the next two sets 6-3 and 6-2 advancing to the semifinals to play Nadal.

Prediction

On paper Ferrer looks over matched and honestly it's hard to argue with that.

Nadal has won 26 of 30 sets against Ferrer on clay.

Unless something magical happens, I just don't see Nadal losing this one.

Prediction

Nadal in a three-set sweep.