French Open 2020: Friday Roland Garros Schedule and Bracket Predictions

Two of the most prolific Grand Slam champions in men's tennis history are one win away from setting up another epic clash in the 2020 French Open men's final.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal face challenges from two of the most in-form players in Friday's semifinals at Roland Garros. 

Nadal will be up first on Court Philippe Chatrier against Diego Schwartzman, who took down U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem in five sets Tuesday. Djokovic's clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas will follow on the showcase court. 

Tsitsipas and Schwartzman have a single previous Grand Slam semifinal appearance between them, which was earned by the former at the 2019 Australian Open. 

At the French Open alone, Djokovic and Nadal combined for 23 semifinal berths and they are working toward their third head-to-head meeting in the final.

Friday Predictions

No. 1 Novak Djokovic over No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas

Experience could outweigh form in the men's semifinals, especially with the disparity in Grand Slam semifinal appearances in both matchups. 

Djokovic will be playing in his 10th French Open semifinal and is chasing his 27th spot in a Grand Slam match. 

The top seed in the men's draw owns a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Tsitsipas, including a win on clay in Madrid last year. Four of the five meetings between the two occurred in the final eight or later. Djokovic's other victory in a final was at Dubai this year. 

Both of Tsitsipas' wins over Djokovic went the distance in best-of-three matches, so even if the No. 5 seed plays at his highest level, he will face a steep challenge. Tsitsipas needs to gain an early advantage to have a shot at springing the upset, but that might not be enough.

On Wednesday, Djokovic fell in the first set to Pablo Carreno Busta but rallied back to take three sets in a row. In that set, Carreno Busta only managed three break-point opportunities, but he converted two of them. 

If Tsitsipas thrives in small windows to break the Serb, there is a chance the match could go four or five sets. 

If Djokovic does not show much weakness on serve, it could be a short day on court for the Greek in search of his first major title. 

No. 2 Rafael Nadal over No. 12 Diego Schwartzman

Nadal possesses a 9-1 record against Schwartzman, but the lone defeat may shine a light on how a tight match could happen Friday. 

Schwartzman defeated Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinal round of the Italian Open, which was the main tuneup for Roland Garros. 

The Argentine converted over 50 percent of his receiving points on first and second serve and broke Nadal on five occasions in the two-set sweep. 

In his victory over Thiem, Schwartzman won 46 percent of his receiving points and picked up 10 breaks in 16 opportunities. If the No. 12 seed is strong again on his return game, he will have a chance to push Nadal to four or five sets. 

However, Nadal is still the undisputed king of the Paris clay with 12 titles, and he has not lost a set this year at Roland Garros. 

Nadal has four victories over Schwartzman on clay, including in the 2018 French Open quarterfinals, and the loss in Rome could be chalked up to the Spaniard not being in form since he did not participate at the U.S. Open.

Since arriving in Paris, the No. 2 seed put together five straight-set wins and won 10 of those sets by three games or more. 

While Schwartzman is expected to make life hard on Nadal Friday, it is hard to predict him to win until he beats the Spaniard at Roland Garros.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from RolandGarros.com and ATPTour.com.