There will be a first-time French Open champion and the favorite will be the winner of Friday’s semifinal showdown between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They also faced each other for the Australian Open title earlier this year.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will be squaring off for the 27th time in their careers and for the fourth time already this season when they do battle in the semifinals of the French Open on Friday.

The series once stood at a basically even 8-7 in Djokovic’s favor, but he has won seven in a row and 10 of their last 11 encounters to storm ahead of Murray 18-8 in what is becoming a lopsided head-to-head matchup. Murray has not defeated the Serb since the 2013 Wimbledon final. Djokovic prevailed earlier this year 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Open title match, 6-2, 6-3 in Indian Wells, and 7-6(3), 4-6…