Roland Garros officials aren’t taking any chances this year. When Tsonga, a home favorite, reached the semifinals in 2013, they scheduled his match after the semi between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Those two proceeded to play for five sets and over four hours, and Tsonga proceeded to get caught up in it while watching on TV in the locker room. By the time he took the court with David Ferrer, he was flat, and so was the energy in the stadium. The crowd had taken a much-deserved break after Rafa and Nole finished, and didn’t return until Tsonga was nearly out of the first set.

The French schedulers have learned their lesson. Has Jo? The last time he played his semifinal opponent, Stan Wawrinka, in the Davis Cup final last November in Lille, France, he complained that the home fans weren’t helping him enough. Tsonga, who lost that one in four sets, is going to have to generate some of his own energy to turn the tables on Friday. Wawrinka is coming off what he called the best clay-court match of his career, a 43-winner, straight-set rout of Roger Federer. Tsonga beat Wawrinka in five sets at Roland Garros in 2012, but he won’t be able to afford any of his customary lulls and lapses if he wants to do it again. There will be support from his people, but there will also be pressure: The last French man to make the final here was Henri Leconte in 1988, and he was booed off the court when he didn’t win. Winner: Wawrinka

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Now that he has achieved one goal that had eluded him for nine years, beating Rafa at Roland Garros, Djokovic still must win two matches to achieve another goal that has eluded him for just as long—winning the French Open. A letdown after his quarterfinal win over Rafa wouldn’t be surprising, but the good news for Nole is that in the end he won that match easily, rather than emotionally.

2015 French Open Men's Semifinal Previews & Picks

2015 French Open Men's Semifinal Previews & Picks

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As far as his semifinal goes, there are better and worse players that Djokovic could face than Murray. On the plus side, Djokovic has won their last seven matches, including three this year. On the minus side, Murray hasn’t lost since Djokovic beat him in Miami in April. That’s 15 straight, all on clay, and it includes his first two titles on the surface and his first clay-court wins over Nadal and Ferrer. Murray, suddenly, is a dirtballer, and he's trying to do for his current coach, Amelie Mauresmo, what he did for his last coach, Ivan Lendl: Win the Slam that they most wanted to win, but couldn't.

Another wild card to consider is the fact that the temperature in Paris is supposed to spike into the 90s on Friday. Djokovic and Murray are obviously in good shape, but we've seen each of them struggle with the heat in the past.

Still, there’s one upside for Djokovic that’s bigger than all the others: He’s the best. Winner: Djokovic