'Machine' on brink of history

Novak Djokovic can become the eighth man to claim a career Grand Slam in the French Open final on Sunday when he takes on Stan Wawrinka who has described the world number one as a "machine".

Djokovic takes a 17-3 career lead into his clash against the popular Wawrinka whose win over the Serb in the 2014 Australian Open quarterfinals put him on the way to his first and so far only major title.

It also snapped an eight-year losing streak against the eight-time Grand Slam trophy winner.

Djokovic will be playing in his third French Open final having lost the 2012 and 2014 championship matches to nine-time Paris champion Rafael Nadal.

But having handed Nadal just his second ever loss at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals and then seeing off world number three Andy Murray in five sets in a semifinal stretched over two days, the 28-year-old is primed for history.

Only Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Nadal have won all four majors.

But Djokovic also has even greater objectives in sight -- victory over Wawrinka would put him halfway to a calendar Grand Slam, a challenge so daunting that only Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) have managed to pull it off.

Djokovic insists that having to come back on Saturday to play another hour to finish his semifinal against Murray 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 after a Friday night suspension will have no bearing on his physical fitness for Sunday's match with Wawrinka.

Djokovic and Wawrinka have met six times on clay and the Swiss has won just one of those -- in Umag in the pair's first clash way back in 2006 and even that was through a retirement.

But Warinka, who put out Federer in the quarterfinals in Paris, insists his poor record will not be a factor on Sunday as he tries to escape the 'one Slam wonder' club.

It's been a long road to the business end of the majors for world number nine Wawrinka.

It took him 36 Grand Slam tournaments and nine years to make his first final in Melbourne last year.