ESPN Tennis

(2) Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic (SCG)
Nadal is just two wins from competing in his second consecutive French Open final. His opponent will be the teen Djokovic, the youngest player left in the men's field.

Nadal enters the match as a heavy favorite, while Djokovic is appearing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. He's also never won a title on the tour. However, Djokovic has impressed through four rounds, knocking off two seeds: No. 23 Tommy Haas and No. 25 Gael Monfils.

Nadal, the defending champion, has 12 career clay-court titles. That's four more than the rest of the remaining field combined. This season alone, the Spaniard is 21-0 on clay, including titles at Monte Carlo and Rome. He will have his record 57-match win streak on clay on the line as well. The streak includes 40 matches that were won in straight sets, though he has been pushed to four sets twice in the first four rounds.

Djokovic is a relative unknown; however, he has won all but one of his four matches in straight sets. The player from Serbia & Montenegro is ranked a career-high 63rd and is 4-3 lifetime against seeded opponents in Grand Slam matches.

(4) Ivan Ljubicic vs. Julien Benneteau
Ivan Ljubicic has quietly made his way through the draw. Despite a No. 4 seeding, the Croatian has never advanced past the quarters in any of his 26 Grand Slam appearances. In fact, his quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open this year was the furthest he's ever advanced. If Ljubicic hopes to advance, he will have to get by the Frenchman Benneteau.

Like Djokovic, Benneteau is unseeded. Just 95th in the world, he is the lowest ranked player to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since 1999 when two players, No. 100 Andrei Medvedev and No. 140 Marcelo Filippini, both reached the last eight.

After a tough start to the tournament, the Frenchman has played less than five sets in his last two matches. In the round of 16, his opponent, Alberto Martin, retired with a lower back injury in the first set.

Benneteau, a first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist, has knocked off two seeds en route to the final eight: No. 19 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 11 Radek Stepanek in the second and third rounds, respectively.

Ljubicic and Benneteau have met twice, each with one victory. Benneteau is bidding to become the first French semifinalist since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

If Nadal and Ljubicic advance, they will join No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 3 David Nalbandian in the semifinals. That would mark the first time since 1985 that the top four men's seeds reached the final four. That year it was No. 1 John McEnroe, No. 2 Ivan Lendl, No. 3 Jimmy Connors and No. 4 Mats Wilander, with Wilander winning the title.