By Chris Oddo

(June 6, 2013) -- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will meet in the Roland Garros semifinal that should be a final on Friday, and the winner will likely go on to a historic French Open title two days later in a final that should be a semifinal.

Day 11: Nadal and Djokovic Breeze Before Moment of Truth

As oxymoronic as it all seems, the French Open organizers made the right decision when it came to not reseeding Rafael Nadal this year. Nadal has owned the tournament, winning it in seven of the last eight years, does he really need any favors from the powers that be at Roland Garros?

Certainly the tournament owes a lot to Rafael Nadal by association, there's no doubt about that. Nadal's heroics at Roland Garros have added to its cachet, as the legions of tennis fans and players who've become enamored with Nadal over the years have also become enamored with Roland Garros. But last I checked, Nadal isn't French, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the player who stands to benefit the most from the French Open's decision to seed based on ranking and not on history, is French.

Did the French Tennis Federation have this in the back of their mind all along? It makes you wonder, doesn't it? The French culture has a long history of rebellion and anti-establishment predilections, and their actions, while reprehensible to many, seem to be right in line with the reactive French tradition of serving the needs of the people, rather than those of the Bourgeoisie.

In other words, it's probably less conspiratorial that Nadal was seeded third even though he's clearly one of the top two players in the draw, and more cultural/ political.

Personally, I believe that the Grand Slams should be given the liberty to moderately tweak their seeds subjectively, based on past performance on a particular surface, in a particular time frame, etc... but I also believe that those same Grand Slams should be given the liberty not to tweak them as well. Hey, it's France's Grand Slam, and they made the decision that they saw fit to make. C'est la vie, folks.

Of course there are those who vehemently support the notion of Nadal being one of the top two seeds at Roland Garros despite being ranked third, but something about doing that would, in my opinion, feel strange, even unjust. Why? Because tennis decided long ago to base seedings at Grand Slams on ranking and Nadal's ranking doesn't merit the top-two seeding. It's as simple as that—rules are rules.

Making an exception would have made things easier for Nadal—again, a player who has no problem winning at the French Open regardless of the number next to his name—and harder for other players in the draw who worked hard to earn the ranking commensurate with their seeding. How is that any fairer than simply playing by the rules that have been put in place with the best interest of the sport in mind?

Again I ask the question: Why do we need to make things easier for Nadal and/ or Djokovic? They have run roughshod over the rest of tennis for the last half-decade and there is no end in sight to their dominance. They don't need the help.

The players that need the help are grizzled tour veterans like David Ferrer, one of the hardest-working pit bulls in the sport, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, one of the most athletically gifted and demonstrably charismatic players in the game today.

This year, they got the help.

Both Tsonga and Ferrer are in position to reach their first French Open final on Friday, while either Nadal or Djokovic is in position for a long flight home on Friday.

Is it fair? Depends on perspective.

It certainly is very egalitarian. If it was good enough for the French Revolution than why shouldn't it be good enough for the French Open?

Meeting in the semifinal in no way, shape or form belittles the magnanimity of what is about to take place between Nadal and Djokovic. And by doing it sooner rather than later, at least the loser won't have to sit there through an unendurable trophy ceremony while his heart is breaking a million times over.

No matter what round Nadal and Djokovic meet in, certain things will hold true: The tennis will be transcendent, the energy will be electric, the jubilation will be soul-quenching and the agony will be heartbreaking.

And if whomever wins Friday's semifinal can't come back on Sunday and claim the Coupe des Mousquetaires, then shame on him. As it always is and always will be in tennis, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.

Or the weather, but that's another story for another time.

(Photo Credit: FFT)