Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer-- previous Roland Garros meetings

PARIS: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will face off for the 39th time when they reprise one of tennis' greatest-ever rivalries in the French Open semi-finals on Friday.

It will be their first meeting since October 2017 and Federer has won the last five encounters -- although Nadal leads their head-to-head 23-15 overall and 13-2 on clay.

The pair have not played each other at Roland Garros since Nadal's victory in the final eight years ago, his fifth from five French Open matches against Federer.

Here, AFP Sport takes a look at those previous meetings between the two at the clay-court major:

2005 semi-finals: Nadal bt Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

-- The then-19-year-old Nadal burst onto the Roland Garros scene with a stunning semi-final victory over top-seeded Federer, going on to lift the title with a final win over Argentina's Mariano Puerta.

Little did the Spaniard know then that he would go on to lift a record-breaking 11 French Open titles.

2006 final: Nadal bt Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

-- Nadal ended Federer's dream of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, winning a thrilling final in four sets to confirm his clay-court dominance.

It was the start of a run of three consecutive Roland Garros finals to be played between the two.

2007 final: Nadal bt Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

-- Another Paris encounter, another four-set win for Nadal.

Federer went into the tournament as the world number one again, with Nadal seeded second, but despite levelling the match in the second set, the youngster powered to a third straight French Open crown.

2008 final: Nadal bt Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0

-- A match that shocked the tennis world saw Nadal totally dismantle arguably the game's greatest-ever player on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Federer managed a paltry four games, which remains the heaviest defeat of his illustrious Grand Slam career, as Nadal became only the third player in the Open era to win the title without dropping a set.

2011 final: Nadal bt Federer 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-1

-- The closest of their five French Open clashes came eight years ago as Federer managed to keep Nadal honest for three sets.

By then, Federer at least had a French Open in his trophy cabinet after taking advantage of Nadal's shock loss to Robin Soderling in 2009, but despite his best efforts, could not find a second.