Rafael Nadal came through a tricky first-round match against Marton Fucsovics to set up what could possibly be his last-ever meeting with Novak Djokovic before retiring.
When the men’s singles draw took place earlier this week, all eyes drew to the second-round with Djokovic and Nadal in the same half.
The Serbian made light work of his first-round tie against alternate Matthew Ebden, dropping just one game.
Nadal had a much tougher test against Fucsovics, who is currently ranked No 84 in the world.
Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic in the second roud
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The 14-time Roland Garros champion comfortably won the opening set, but the Hungarian tennis star fought back to force a decider.
Nadal had just enough to see off his opponent and progress to the next round where he will meet Djokovic for the first time in two years.
With the Spaniard stating that he will likely retire at the end of this year, it could well be the last time the two great rivals face off against each other.
Their last meeting came at the 2022 French Open, when Nadal won in four sets on his way to winning his 14th title in Paris.
Djokovic only just holds the edge in the head-to-head record having won 30 of the 59 matches between them.
There was some concern on whether Nadal would pull out of the singles draw heading into Sunday.
The 38-year-old competed alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s doubles on Saturday with the Spanish duo earning a famous win to progress to the second round.
That match finished on Saturday evening and Nadal was left unhappy with the scheduling of his first-round singles match the following day.
Novak Djokovic has won 30 of the 59 meetings with Rafael Nadal
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He said: “A 2:00 p.m. game? I don’t understand the schedule.
“It seems outrageous to me when I’m playing at two o’clock.”
Nadal added that he needed to speak with his team on whether he was going to play in the singles draw, but ultimately he decided to continue.
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The Spaniard is aiming to add to the two Olympic gold medals he picked up in 2008 and 2016.
Olympic gold is the only piece of silverware missing from Djokovic’s trophy cabinet after he won bronze in 2008.