By Kamakshi Tandon

So here we are again – the first repeat men’s final at the French for as long as anyone can remember. Nadal will be trying to win this third straight French Open, stay unbeaten at the event (20 and counting), stay unbeaten in best-of-five matches on clay (33 and counting), and stay on course to beat his own record of 81 consecutive victories on clay (6 and counting - darn that Federer).

Federer is in much the same position he was last year – trying to win the French Open for the first time, trying to win a career Grand Slam, trying to win a non-calendar (‘Roger’) Slam, trying to stay on track for a calendar Grand Slam, and trying for the second time to break his personal Slam mark of 27 match wins (darn that Nadal).

Something has to give. And because they two are so closely matched that the result on any particular depends very much on their respective form on that day, it’s hard to know what to point to as a leading indicator for this match.

Their semifinals? Federer looked sluggish, Nadal looked nearly impenetrable.

Overall form at this event? Federer has been a little up and down, Nadal slowly gathering steam.

Domination of the rest of the tour? Federer. Domination of the rest of the tour on clay? Nadal.

Their last match? Federer romped past a tired Nadal in the last two sets. He's won three of their last four encounters. Their overall head-to-head? Nadal, easy, including both their matches here the last two years.

If there are any significant differences between this year and last, it’s that last year Federer had almost beaten Nadal on clay; this year, he’s actually done it. Nadal’s play has improved in some respects, but Federer is more prepared to play an aggressive game against him.

The way things are now – if they were to play several times, it’s safe to say Nadal would win a significant majority of the encounters. But any given match, Federer has a decent shot at pulling off a win.

Hey, that’s why they call it The Rivalry.

Prediction: Federer