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Ammon News - PARIS (BBC) - Rafael Nadal will become the first man to win a Grand Slam singles title eight times if he beats David Ferrer in Sunday's French Open final.

The seven-time champion takes a 58-1 record at Roland Garros into the match against his fellow Spaniard.

"It will be a great day for the sport in Spain," said Nadal. "It's very difficult to have two Spanish players in the final, so it's fantastic news."

World number five Ferrer, 31, will be playing in his first Grand Slam final.

He faces a daunting task against the man who has dominated the French Open for almost a decade, and against whom he has just four wins in 23 meetings.

"I know he's the favourite, but I am going to be focused every point," said Ferrer. "I will try to do my best.

"I am not thinking about Rafael, whether he's better than me or not. I will try to fight a lot and to play a very good match."

Victory on Sunday would take Nadal past the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, both seven-time winners at Wimbledon, as the only eight-time champion of a Grand Slam in men's tennis.

The Majorcan, 27, returns to a major final for the first time since Paris last year.

He spent more than seven months out with a serious knee injury after Wimbledon, only returning in February. Since then he has won six of the eight tournaments in which he has competed.

"I don't feel like the favourite," said Nadal. "I feel that I am a finalist. I arrived to the final playing well. I improved a little bit in every match during the tournament.

"That's important, to arrive to the final with the right feelings, but he [Ferrer] didn't lose a set during the whole tournament, so he's a player that brings you to the limit.

"He's a player that if you are not playing perfect, you will be in big, big trouble."

Nadal has known Ferrer for around 10 years and the pair are Davis Cup colleagues, as well as spending a lot of time in each other's company on tour, often passing the time playing video games.

"The person who is not respecting David as one of the greatest players of the world - and not for one year, for a long time - doesn't know anything about tennis," said Nadal.

The only time Ferrer has beaten Nadal on clay was their first match in 2004, when Nadal was 18, but the man from Valencia takes some encouragement from their last meeting in Rome last month.

"It is very difficult to beat Rafael on all the surfaces, but on a clay court it is more difficult," said Ferrer.

"I think I need to play my best tennis to beat him. In Rome I played a very good game; I played very aggressive all the match, and finally I lost with him because he was better."