In search of his second Musketeers Cup, the Serbian will face Spanish Rafael Nadal, who has never lost a final and will play his 13th in Paris after defeating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-3, and 7-6(0).

"Here, he is the favorite, it is his house, with all the titles he has won. But in 2015 I won against him. It is the biggest challenge you can face in our sport, to play here against Nadal. I am motivated to try to win," said the Serbian.

This will be the third Roland Garros final between Nadal and Federer at Roland Garros and the first duel between them since the Serbian handed the Spanish his second defeat on the clay courts of Paris in the quarterfinals of 2015.

Nole, who has only one loss this season, the disqualification at the US Open for assaulting a referee, reaches his fifth final after losing one set in the quarters against Spanish Pablo Carreño and two in the semis against Tsitsipas, the sixth in the world.

This time, the Serbian cannot use physical problems as an excuse, since he did not show any muscular discomfort that he had shown against the Spaniard.

The Serbian had the match under control, dominating the attacks of the fiery 22-year-old Greek, sixth in the world, who was aiming for his first Grand Slam final until well into the third set.

There, with 5-4 on the scoreboard, he even had a match point, when not even three hours had been played. But the Greek lifted it and that revitalized him, he freed his arm and began to attack the Serbian's game, who stepped back and was overcome.

Tsitsipas won the set and although the Serbian seemed determined to leave the bad behind, he stumbled over and over again when it came to converting break points. He had 11 in that set, but only converted one.

Djokovic congratulated Tsitsipas, assured that after letting himself be come back in the first two sets, he remained calm "on the surface, but deep down it was another thing."

"I had control of the game, but he has raised his level and I have lost the two sets," he said.

The Greek's resistance was not enough for a fifth set. Tsitsipas already came back from 2-0 down in his debut at Roland Garros against Spaniard Jaume Munar, in his first five-set victory in Paris, but this time the opponent was of greater stature.

The Greek kneeled, proud to have surpassed his best performance in Paris and reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the second time in his young career, after last year's Australian Open.

Djokovic, 33, becomes the seventh player to reach five finals in Paris, equaling Roger Federer, one behind the Swedish Bjorn Borg's total and far behind Nadal's 13.

In addition, it will be the Serbian's 27th Grand Slam final, one less than Nadal and four behind Federer.

It will also be the Serbian's first final since winning his only title in the French capital in 2016, a victory that opened a drought period in the Balkan's career.