Rafael Nadal could be forgiven for already having one eye firmly fixed on a potential revenge match against Robin Soderling in Sunday's French Open final.

The Swede stunned the Spaniard and the tennis world last year when he became the first, and so far the only man, to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros since the claycourt king first blasted onto the Paris scene in 2005.

Soderling will start favourite in his semi-final today against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, while on the face of it, Nadal should have little trouble seeing off the challenge of Austrian surprise Jurgen Melzer.

But true to form, Nadal is taking nothing for granted.

"I never think about revenges," Nadal said.

"I am in the semi-finals against Melzer. It will be a very difficult match. So I am focused on that match right now."

Still, the odds against a win for the 22nd seed Melzer, who at 29 will be playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final, look astronomical.

Nadal has yet to drop a set, while Melzer needed all of the time off before today's last four games to recuperate from his efforts in coming from two sets down to defeat third seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

Today's other semi-final sees a match-up between two of the tallest players on the tour who both base their games around big serves and thumping forehands.

Soderling leads their head-to-heads 4-3, but it was Berdych who won their last encounter 6-2, 6-2 on the Miami hardcourts earlier this year.

Still, the Swede will start a strong favourite on the evidence of his defeat of Nadal last year and his commanding four sets victory over top seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

Soderling is seeking to be the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title since Stefan Edberg at the 1992 US Open, while Berdych hopes to be the first from his country to take a Grand Slam title since Petr Korda took the 1998 Australian Open.