Good afternoon! Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer are due to head out to Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros for the 26th meeting between the Spanish duo in around 15 minutes time.

The pair have already played three times on clay since Nadal returned from his knee injury earlier this year. The reigning French Open champion has won all three matches, dropping just two sets to his compatriot.

Ferrer has only beaten the world number four on clay once, in the first meeting between the two players back in 2004. Since then, the fourth seed has only beaten Nadal four times, most recently taking victory at the world tennis championship in the UAE in 2011.

This will be Ferrer's first appearance in the final of a Grand Slam tournament. He's been a beaten semi-finalist on five occasions, including at last year's French Open, when he was beaten by Nadal. He's also reached the last four twice at the Australian Open and twice at the US Open.

By contrast, Nadal is no stranger to Grand Slam finals. This will be the 17th final for the Spaniard, who has 11 previous wins at the four major tournaments. The world number four has only lost once at the French Open, having been beaten by Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009.

Let's take a quick look at how both players reached the final. It was a shaky start for the defending champion, as he dropped the opening set of his campaign to Germany's Daniel Brands. Since then, he's gradually improved his form, before overcoming world number one Novak Djokovic in a five-set battle in the semi-finals, spending almost five hours on court.

Meanwhile, it's been a fairly straight forward process for Ferrer. He's yet to drop a set, and spent much less time on court in the last four, easing past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.

Here come the players! It's polite cheers for Ferrer, but the crowd go crazy for Nadal, who continues to wear heavy strapping around the knee which kept him off the court for seven months.

The recent history between these two players suggests that it should be a comfortable win for the defending champion. However, Nadal told reporters ahead of the final: "I don't feel like a favourite. I feel like a finalist. It will be a great day for our sport in Spain. It's great that David's in the final. He deserves it. Our relationship is great. We play video games together in the afternoons a lot of times. He's a very good guy. He's relaxed. He's very big fighter."

His opponent recognises that it will be difficult for him to beat the "King of Clay". Ferrer told reporters: "Defeating Rafa is very difficult on any surface; it's even worse on clay. But once again, I'm going to try to play a beautiful match. I don't want to think of whether it's the occasion, the opportunity of my life, if it's a dream. It's a dream for me to be in a final of a Grand Slam, and Roland Garros is the most important for me. I will play against Rafael, and it's very important for us because we are Spanish players and this is very important for the country also."

While the players continue their warm-ups, let's take a quick look at the weather conditions. It's not impossible that this match could be interrupted by some rain at some point. It's very grey and overcast in Paris, and showers are forecast for later this afternoon.

The warm-ups are over and the play is about to get underway, with Ferrer serving first.

It's a comfortable start for the fourth seed. Nadal tries to defend from the baseline, but he hits a couple of strokes wide, before Ferrer wraps his opening service game up with an ace.

Ferrer misses his first two returns, but manages to engage in a lengthy rally in the third point of the game. Nadal manages to dictate play with his backhand and clinches the point with a brilliantly executed drop shot, but he fires his forehand long on the next point. However, he holds serve when Ferrer just slices a forehand return wide.

BREAK! Nadal is able to get after the Ferrer serve a lot more in this game, effortlessly moving around the baseline. The fourth seed seems to be struggling with how much power to give the ball, blasting a couple of efforts long to give Nadal two break points, and he clinches it thanks to another error from Ferrer.

BREAK! Nadal makes a strong start to the game, but misses his first serve at 30-0 up to allow Ferrer to get into the point, and he forces a mistake from the defending champion to get himself back into the game. Nadal then strikes two forehands wide to give Ferrer a chance to break back, but a long return from the world number five brings up deuce. Ferrer goes for a drop shot, and Nadal gets the return in, but Ferrer manages to hit the ball past him to force another break point. A sensational 20-stroke rally sees both player having to work hard to stay in the point, but it's Ferrer who wins it, as Nadal's forehand hits the net.

Nadal gets a chance to give himself two break points, with Ferrer coming into the net to volley. Nadal goes for a deep backhand, but it lands just long of the baseline. Another backhand effort from the defending champion finds the net, giving Ferrer the game.

Neither player seems to have really settled yet in this opening set. After a couple of fairly straight-forward service games to start the match, it's been an error-strewn occasion so far.

Nadal is starting to get plenty of power behind the ball now, and it forces a series of errors from his opponent, as Ferrer makes a couple of long returns, before blasting the ball into the net to hand Nadal the game. A couple of drops of rain have just started to fall, but it isn't heavy enough to stop play yet.

BREAK! Ferrer makes the first double fault of the match. Nadal fires a looping forehand towards Ferrer, before picking out the sideline with stunning forehand down the line. A mistake at the net from Ferrer gives the defending champion two break points, but Ferrer saves the first with some aggressive ground strokes, while a wide shot from Nadal brings up deuce. Nadal gets advantage when a Ferrer forehand is called long, and wraps up the game on the next point with a brilliant cross-court backhand.

Ferrer takes the opening point with a strong forehand from the baseline, but loses out when he hits the net in the following rally. Ferrer mis-reads Nadal's movement during another long rally, allowing the third seed to smash his forehand past him, but the world number five wrong-foots his opponent on the next point to take the game to deuce. Ferrer goes for a drop shot, but Nadal is able to hit the ball back, but his looping forehand goes a fraction long, handing Ferrer a break point, but the defending champion saves it with a stunning forehand to the sideline. Nadal gets advantage with a gutsy second serve and seals the game with his first ace of the match.

Nadal claims the opening point with a fantastic forehand return before a poor attempt at a drop shot gives the world number four a 30-0 lead. A double fault gives Nadal two set points. Nadal wraps up the opening set in just over 40 minutes with Ferrer hitting the ball into the net with an attempted backhand.

It was far from the seven-time French Open champions best tennis, but Nadal was easily on top in the final games of the opening set, while Ferrer struggled to keep the error count down. The world number five has shown signs that he can compete with the third seed, so this is far from over.

Nadal gifts Ferrer the first two points of the game with shots to the net, but a big serve leaves the fourth seed struggling on the return. Ferrer gets a lucky bounce off the net chord, but strikes the net again on the next stroke to allow Nadal to level the game. Ferrer gets a break point, but some strong play from the baseline allows Nadal to take the game to deuce. Another couple of uncharacteristic errors from Ferrer allow Nadal to hold. Ferrer is creating plenty of chances, but does not seem able to take them at the moment.

BREAK! Nadal plays a superb backhand down the line before wrong-footing Ferrer with another backhand from behind the baseline to give himself a chance to get a break early in the second set. Ferrer defends well, but he can't match his opponent, as Nadal fires a superb forehand to the back corner of the court to clinch the break.

Nadal opens with another ace, before displaying his full range of shots in a high-tempo rally, eventually beating Ferrer with a brilliant forehand down the line. Nadal takes the game following a long return from Ferrer, and just seems to be getting stronger and stronger at the moment.

WEATHER UPDATE! The rain is starting to get a little heavier around the court, and the tournament referee has been carefully monitoring conditions from the sideline. There are plenty of umbrellas up in the crowd, but it looks like play will continue for the time being.

Ferrer tries to beat Nadal with a drop shot, but the reigning champion is quick enough to get to the net, but his looping return is just inches wide. Desperate to avoid a double fault, Ferrer sends down a very cautious second serve, allowing Nadal to get on the attack, but he goes for too much power and fires the ball long, but a cross-court forehand takes the game to deuce. Ferrer brilliantly lands the ball on the sideline to bring up advantage, but Nadal keeps the game alive by winning a badminton-esque exchange of close-range volleys. Nadal forces advantage twice to bring up break points, but Ferrer manages to save both before finding some punchy forehand shots to hold serve.

Ferrer is working hard as he tries to get himself back into the set, beating Nadal with a good drop shot. He tries the same shot on the next point, but Nadal is expecting it and makes the return, but Ferrer is able to use his backhand to smash the ball into an open court. Another excellent backhand brings up two break points for the fourth seed. The defending champion manages to save the first with a strong forehand, before another down the line brings up deuce. Nadal forces advantage but is unable to convert, dragging his forehand wide. A shot to the net on the next point gives Ferrer another chance to get the set back on serve. A long return allows Nadal to save, but the fourth seed gets yet another chance, making a stunning return, but Nadal saves again, getting the better of Ferrer in the longest rally of the match so far. However, some brilliant efforts to the sideline from Nadal eventually ensure that he holds serve, in a game lasting almost 11 minutes!

Unfortunately the game has been interrupted by a political protest in the crowd. Thankfully, security is on its way.

BREAK! Prior to the disruption, Nadal played some great strokes from the back of the court to secure the opening two points. After the delay, a missed serve from Ferrer allowed the defending champion to attack his second serve, and bring up two break points. However, two brilliant forehands to the right-hand side of the court brings up deuce. Ferrer slices his backhand into the net to give Nadal another chance, and he takes it with a brilliant forehand. Nadal will now serve for the second set.

There's another disruption now as a man with a flare runs onto the court near Nadal. The Spaniard quickly gets out the way, and security personnel drag the protester away. It's a shame to see such protests disrupting the flow of the match.

BREAK! Nadal seems to have lost some of his intensity from earlier in the set, making his first double fault of the match to give Ferrer two break points. The fourth seed claims the game by brilliantly sliding into the net to volley the ball past his opponent.

It appears that Ferrer used all his fight in the previous game, as he makes two double faults to hand Nadal three set points, before blasting his forehand well wide, giving his opponent a two-set advantage.

Nadal's trainers for this tournament have had a yellow circle with a black number seven inside. He needs just one more set to be able to change that to an eight.

More mistakes from Ferrer make it an easy start to the third set for Nadal, who seals the game with an ace. The rain is starting to fall again at Roland Garros, but once again it's fairly light.

BREAK! Nadal goes for an overhead smash, but Ferrer manages to make the return, before Nadal plays the same shot again, this time beating his opponent. Ferrer comes into the net but puts his volley wide to give Nadal two break points, and the defending champion takes the game with a volley.

BREAK! A double fault helps Ferrer to a strong position in the game, before Nadal hits his backhand into the net to bring up three break points for his opponent. Nadal responds well, hitting a superb forehand down the sideline, but he finds the net again on the next point to allow Ferrer to break back.

WEATHER UPDATE! It's getting really quite wet around Court Philippe Chatrier now and the tournament referee is back on the court assessing the conditions.

PLAY SUSPENDED! Indeed they have stopped play for the time being, but the players are remaining on court so it is likely to be a short delay.

Well that was potentially the shortest rain delay of the tournament. The players are back up and ready to continue.

The couple of minutes break appears to have done Ferrer some good, as he powers a couple of forehand winners past Nadal, before a return from the defending champion goes long, allowing the fourth seed to level the scores in this third set.

Nadal opens the game with a brilliant ace, but he misses a forehand while sliding along the baseline. Ferrer seems to have more power in his shots than before the rain delay, but he puts too much on the ball to allow Nadal to take a 40-15 lead before firing an ace down the centre of the court.

Ferrer loses the opening couple of points following some impressive defensive play from Nadal, and is distracted when a spectator gets out of their seat while he's preparing to serve. However, he quickly puts the distraction behind him to level the scores with some solid forehands, before Nadal fires his return long, and smashes the next into the net, allowing Ferrer to hold. He's making this third set a real contest.

The errors are creeping back in from both players as Nadal puts his forehand wide before Ferrer finds the net. Nadal manages to hit an impressive forehand winner down the sideline to level the scores, but gets the ball caught on the net on the next point, presenting Ferrer with an opportunity to break, but a careless forehand goes long to take the game to deuce. Another couple of long balls allow Nadal to hold, meaning Ferrer has taken just three of the 12 break points that he has made the defending champion face.

BREAK! Both players are looking to take points with their forehands at the moment, but a long effort from Ferrer gives Nadal a chance to break. However, he puts the miss behind him and goes for the same shot again, and this time he makes it to bring up deuce. The ball is long again on the next points to give Nadal advantage, before Ferrer serves a double fault, handing Nadal the game. The reigning champion will now serve for the match and championship.

Rafael Nadal has two championship points.

It's a nervous final service game from Nadal, as he takes plenty of time between points to compose himself, but he eventually wraps the match up with a great forehand strike to the left-hand side of the court. The 27-year-old becomes the first player to win the same Grand Slam an eight occasions.

The court is being prepared for the prize presentation, with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt handing out the trophies.

Speaking on court, Nadal said: "I would like to congratulate David for a fantastic final. Sorry for today but he is a fighter, David and all his team deserve to be here."

Nadal is also thanking his family, coaches and Twitter followers for their support over the last year while he has battled with his knee injury.

When asked if he ever though that he would become the first player to win a Grand Slam tournament eight times, Nadal tells the crowd: "I never even dream about this kind of thing!"

Beaten finalist David Ferrer is also speaking to the crowd on court. He says: "I enjoyed a lot these two weeks. I would like to say congratulations to Rafael. I think he's the best."

The world number five added "I will try to do my best to have a new chance to win a grand slam. I know that it's going to be difficult but I will fight to be here for a final again."

Well that's all from the men's final at this year's French Open. Stick around for full reaction to the final. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, good bye.