French Open 2022: Nadal showers love on Paris with 'little tour' ahead of Djokovic clash

Rafael Nadal's French Open 2022 quarter-final against long-time rival Novak Djokovic will take place in Tuesday's night session at Roland Garros despite the 13-time champion's desire to play in the day.

Officials have confirmed that the pair's 59th career meeting will be the late match under the lights of Court Philippe Chatrier, with the day's other quarter-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev set for the afternoon.

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Ahead of the blockbuster encounter, the Spanish ace suggested that this could very well be his last match at his favourite place Roland Garros and admitted that it would be a challenge for him to beat the World No.1.

Nadal, who has clinched the French Open a record 13 times in his career, also took to Instagram to post a video to shower his love on Paris and gave a glimpse of his 'tour' from his hotel to the iconic clay court for his followers.

"You all know I love Paris 😘 Here's a little "tour" of my daily route to the tournament from my hotel 💪🏻," wrote the Spaniard as he hopes to fight for his berth in the semi-finals.

Nadal has struggled to recover from a chronic foot injury, which threatens to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career. However, the 21-time Grand Slam winner battled through the discomfort across five sets to beat Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last-16, and that victory set up his meeting with Djokovic.

"The match with Djokovic could be my last here, and I know Roland Garros by day, and I would prefer to play by day. I don't have a [recent] test against him because my last match against him was here last year, I think, so I didn't play this kind of match for the last three months," Nadal told reporters ahead of Tuesday's clash.

"It's going to be a big challenge for me. I think he's already won the last nine matches in a row, winning in Rome and now winning here in straight sets every match. He will be confident. I know what my situation is, and I accept it well, and I'm going to fight for it. I can't complain much. I am in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros," the Spaniard added.

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"Two-and-a-half weeks ago, even if I had good hopes, positive hopes after Rome, I didn't even know if I would be able to be here. So I'm just enjoying the fact that I am here for one more year and, being honest, every match that I play here, I don't know if it's going to be my last match here in Roland Garros in my tennis career. That's my situation now," the 13-time French Open winner remarked.

"Of course, I went through a tough process again with my foot, so I don't know what can happen in the near future with my career. But that's why I'm just trying to enjoy as much as possible and fight as much as I can to keep living the dream that is keeping playing tennis and being back in a very advanced round of Roland Garros playing against the world number one. That's it. I hope to be able to give myself a chance to play at the highest level possible, and then let's see," Nadal concluded.