For the second time this season, the Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will cross paths on the professional tour, this time to determine who will advance to the semi-final of the Roland Garros Grand Slam event. Federer leads the overall head to head series 16-2, including a win in their most recent encounter in Rome.

In a match that required two days to complete, Roger Federer finally got his revenge on Gael Monfils on clay when he defeated the Frenchman in four sets to advance to the quarter-final stage in Paris. The contest began late on Sunday due to a rain delay and was completed on Monday morning with the contest split a set each. Federer managed to take advantage of a dejected Monfils to close out the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

“I wanted to get off to a good start, because you never know how he will be playing,” said Federer. “So I felt good. I was calm yesterday. I was calm this morning. So we (Stefan Edberg and I) adopted the right game plan and the right tactical approach. I’m very happy.”

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Seeded eighth at this year’s event, Stan Wawrinka defeated 12th seed Gilles Simon to take out the local favourite 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and secure his place in the quarter-final round of the tournament, where he will come up against his fellow countryman and idol.

“It [will be] a special match,” said Federer. “It is not a traditional match. There aren’t too many Swiss players in the draw… It’s always special to play each other. There will be a Swiss guy in the semi-final. That’s positive. I hope I will reach the semifinal of a tournament. I will pull out all the stops to advance to the next round. If I will not make it, I will be very happy for Stan.”

This marks the 19th time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series 16-2. Federer won their most recent encounter en route to the final in Rome this season but also lost another clay court encounter at last year’s Monte Carlo final. It will be interesting to see if Stan will be able to topple the 17-time Grand Slam champ this time around.