Now only Stan Wawrinka remains between the 31-year-old and another record as the first man to reach double digits at a single slam.
Swiss third seed Wawrinka hit 87 winners as he beat world number one Andy Murray in the semi-finals.
Rafa Nadal moved to within one victory of "La Decima" at the French Open as he demolished rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 6-0 with a daunting show of force in Friday's semi-final.
Three times he has reached finals previously and he has won every one - defeating an admittedly-injured Nadal at the Australian Open in 2014 and Djokovic here in 2015 and in NY a year ago.
Roland Garros is where the Open era of professional tennis began in the fabled summer of 1968, when students took to the streets of Paris and Ken Rosewall picked up 15,000 francs, roughly £2,000, for beating his friend and rival Rod Laver in the final of the French Open. But.it's the final. The pressure is on both players. He is the oldest man in a French Open title match since Niki Pilic was 33 when he was the runner-up to Ilie Nastase in 1973. Murray avoided the concluding bagel against Wawrinka but only because he fought like a starving dog in a final set of stupendous hitting by Switzerland's highest ranked player.
It shapes up to be an epic men's final match. "I think with my team we did everything to take a fresh, good start".
Realistically speaking, everyone expects Nadal to win the final on Sunday, June 11, given how dominant he has been since the clay court season started.
Nadal destroys Wawrinka to claim record-extending tenth French Open title
Wawrinka knocked out Andy Murray in the semi-finals and will be looking to cause another upset of the clay courts of Paris . "Nine titles are more than enough", he said, before adding with a smile: "Ten is only 10 per cent more than nine".
Regarded as one of the favourites before the event, Wawrinka has won all three Grand Slam finals that he has appeared in.
"He's for sure gonna be the favourite with what he's done in the past, but also this season already he's playing so well. If I can play long balls, if I can hit hard, if I can do that, well, I think I will be able to control him". Wawrinka used his sublime one-handed backhand and hammer of a forehand to send Murray scrambling and sliding all over Court Philippe Chatrier.
"Mentally I've become a different player", Wawrinka, who has won three of his last six matches against Nadal having lost the first 12, told reporters. "We both want to win the title, and we both gonna give it all on the court", said Wawrinka.
The last grand slam clash between the pair came at Melbourne Park in 2014 when Wawrinka beat a hobbling Nadal to claim his first grand slam title. I will have to do everything I can to keep him from playing aggressively.
"I need to play aggressive, I need to play long, I need to try to not let him play from easy positions".
The Swiss was the underdog in all three of his previous Grand Slam finals, each of them against the reigning world No 1. It's the moment I have to be very happy. "It's impossible to compare it to another place", Nadal said.
Three times he has reached finals previously and he has won every one - defeating an admittedly-injured Nadal at the Australian Open in 2014 and Novak Djokovic here in 2015 and in NY a year ago.
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