The clay court king Rafael Nadal will go into tonight's French Open quarter final was the unusual tag of underdog.
It's the match which has had fixated the tennis world since the Roland Garros draw was made - Nadal a nine time winner of the tournament against the world number one Novak Djokovic.
Nadal has suffered just one loss in ten years on the Parisian clay while Djokovic is on a 26 match winning streak.
Sweden's Robin Soderling is the only player to have beaten Nadal at Roland Garros in the 2009 fourth round.
Rafa Nadal goes into his Roland Garros match against Novak Djokovic in the unusual position of being labelled the underdog. Photo: Photosport
That blip aside, Nadal's record in Paris stands at 70-1 and a 44th meeting with Djokovic promises to be a monumental contest, one that the Spaniard is ready for.
"I will pull out all the stops to win the match. I will fight to the bitter end."
Djokovic also engaged in some fighting talk.
"He is the player that I have played against the most in my life. So I know what I need to do to have a chance to win."
Nadal leads their series 23-20.
Failure to land a title in the European clay-court season has seen Nadal slip down the rankings to seventh, with a French Open seeding of sixth.
"It's probably the toughest quarter final of my career here at Roland Garros without a doubt but its not the final. It's the quarterfinals and the winner of the match is not the champion of Roland Garros," said Nadal.
"That makes a big difference (to this match) even if it is a special match, it's a quarterfinal," he said.
