A couple of weeks before the start of the French Open, Novak Djokovic admitted he had dreamt about winning here and completing the "Nole slam" of four straight Grand Slam titles.

He did not reveal too much about the dream – only that he had seen the scoreboard – but it is a fair bet that his opponent in the final was not Rafael Nadal, the six-time champion and the man who stands in his way here today.

Having followed up his Wimbledon and US Open victories by winning the Australian Open in January, the Serb stands on the verge of history.

Should the world No 1 beat Nadal today he will become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. Laver managed it in the calendar year (and also achieved the feat in 1962) and some people have suggested that were Djokovic to win, it would not quite be as good an achievement.

But former world No 1 John McEnroe said winning four straight Grand Slams, whenever and however it is done, would be a remarkable effort.

"Man, I'd take four in a row any day," the seven-times Grand Slam champion said. "It's not tech- nically the Grand Slam but I'd come up with some statue or something that said I had four in a row and I'd be parading it around my house for the rest of my life. Then I'd go and try to win the third and fourth, and then it would be no question about it. But that would be just fine with me."

In an era when Roger Federer (16) and Nadal (10) have won 26 Grand Slam titles between them, the fact Djokovic has a chance to emulate Laver and Don Budge, the other man to win the Grand Slam, is even more remarkable.

The 25-year-old beat Nadal in the final at Wimbledon and in New York last summer, and again in Melbourne in January, but knows that doing it once more on clay will be "the ultimate challenge in the sport".

"There's a lot on the line," he said. "I have this golden opport-unity to make history. This motivates me. It really inspires me. I'm really grateful to be in this position and I'll really try to get my hands on that trophy if I can."

Djokovic's epic win over Nadal in Melbourne, which lasted almost six hours, was his seventh straight win over the Spaniard.

Nadal broke the streak by winning in Monte Carlo and then repeated the feat when he beat the Serb to win the title in Rome. But Djokovic believes the fact he has beaten Nadal on clay in the past will help him as he goes into his first French Open final.

"That's something that is in the back of my mind," he said. "That's something that can give me confidence when I step on the court with him. Obviously it is different because now it's the best of five. He has lost just one match on this court in his career so that says enough about his quality on this court.

"I lost to him here three times. I haven't won a set against him in this court. He is the favourite but I feel different nowadays.

"I believe I'm at the peak of my career and I've been playing the best tennis of my life in the last year-and-a-half so I should use that as confidence and try to get my hands on title."

The mental strength the Serb has shown in the past couple of years means nothing can be taken for granted, even if Nadal has been in the better form over the past fortnight.

For the fourth time in his career, Nadal has not dropped a set en route to the final here and the Spaniard has looked close to his absolute best, especially in his utterly dominant 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 defeat of David Ferrer in the semi-finals.

The 35 games he has dropped in reaching the final is second only to Bjorn Borg, who lost just 27 in 1978.

Everything seems to be working well in the Nadal game and Federer, beaten by Djokovic in straight sets in the semi-finals, said the six-times champion was "the overwhelming favourite".

As he finished off his media commitments yesterday, Nadal thanked Federer for his con-fidence but denied things were quite that clear-cut.

"I don't feel I'm the great favourite, as he said, because I'm going to play against the No 1," he said. "Eliminate the words 'big favorite'. You can keep the word 'favourite' if you want."

Nadal said he was confident with the way he was playing but said he would have to take the attack to Djokovic.

"I have to dictate with my game," he said. "I can't let him feel comfortable. I want to make him move on the court. If I just return the ball I can't win. But if I manage and vary my shots and be aggressive and I don't allow him to attack too much, the match is going to be different."

For Djokovic, making it four in a row would be something that neither Federer nor Nadal has been able to do, and something he admits would be the icing on the cake.

"It's very hard to find anything they haven't done and achieved," he said. "But if there is one thing they haven't done and I can do, I would be very happy."