Rafael Nadal

After an exhausting 5 hours and 24 minutes on court inside Rod Laver Arena, Nadal prevailed in five sets 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that did not finish until just after 1am AEDT.

It was the second-longest Australian Open final after Nadal's five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in 2012, when the Serb won in 5 hours and 53 minutes.

The victory moves Nadal ahead of his great rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer to the top of the men's all-time major winners list.

The 'Big Three" had all sat on 20 wins prior to the Australian Open.

“This whole situation has taken a lot of spotlight away from us competitors,” he said.

“We’re here to play the Australian Open. We’re here on our own terms, ready to compete and hopefully have a very good couple of weeks.”

But still, all anyone could talk about was the fate of the World No.1 and in official court documents, his lawyers warned it could have longstanding consequences.

“Cancelling Mr Djokovic’s visa would jeopardise the viability of Australia continuing to host the Australian Open,” they wrote.

Barty overcame a stumbling start to claim a 6-2 6-4 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova at an empty Margaret Court Arena on Saturday.

The 24-year-old would have expected the backing of a fiercely partisan crowd for a weekend evening match at her home Grand Slam, but Melbourne's five-day lockdown left her playing in front of officials, ballkids and coaches.

While most other players have seen plenty of empty courts on the WTA tour over the last year, it was a new experience for Barty, who elected to stay home while the COVID-19 pandemic raged around the world.

Medvedev's first career victory over the 20-times Grand Slam champion sent him through to a final showdown against Dominic Thiem who earlier beat Novak Djokovic in another titanic clash.

The 24-year-old Medvedev reached the semi-finals as the only player to post a 100% record in his group, including a superb defeat of Djokovic.

Thiem will attempt to go one better than last year when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.

Nadal, who reached the final at Bercy once in 2007, was only briefly in the mix, conceding serve three times.

Zverev will look to claim his fourth Masters title against Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev, who qualified with a commanding 6-4 7-6(4) victory against Canadian Milos Raonic.

Meanwhile Novak Djokovic has sealed the year-end men's world number one tennis ranking for the sixth time to go level with childhood hero Pete Sampras after closest rival Nadal opted against playing in the ATP Tour event in Sofia next week.

The Spaniard, chasing a record-extending 13th triumph at Roland Garros, will meet the world number one for the seventh time at Roland Garros, having beaten him six times out of seven, including twice in the two finals they played.

The 34-year-old Nadal, now undefeated in 13 French Open semi-finals, once again relied on his massive forehand to notch up his 10th win in 11 encounters with Schwartzman, who beat him at the Italian Open last month.

The Spanish second seed, also looking to equal Roger Federer's men's record of 20 singles Grand Slam titles, was never bothered on court Philippe Chatrier.

World number three and US Open champion Dominic Thiem survived a third-set wobble to beat American qualifier Jack Sock 6-1 6-3 7-6.

The Austrian third seed has been beaten by Nadal in the last two Roland Garros finals.

And three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka said he was ready to challenge for his second French Open title after a comfortable 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1 win over German Dominik Koepfer.

The Spaniard, looking to equal Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, is used to slow starts at Roland Garros and this year's debut was no different.

On the revamped court Philippe Chatrier, whose roof stayed open throughout, Nadal converted all of his five break points to set up a meeting with American Mackenzie McDonald.

The second seed, who had complained about the new balls being too heavy, did not appear too bothered in front of some 200 fans, wrapping up the match with a service winner.

Both the men's (ATP) and women's (WTA) professional games are suspended until at least mid-July due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Swiss great Federer pondered the possibility of bringing both tours under the governance of a singular body with a post on Twitter.

"Just wondering am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men's and women's tennis to be united and come together as one?" Federer asked.

Swiss great Federer will face off against his most famous rival in the sixth edition of the Match for Africa series, organised by the 20-time grand slam winner's foundation.

Federer will team up with Microsoft owner Bill Gates to face Nadal and Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who was born in South Africa, for a doubles encounter before the two tennis greats meet in a singles match.

When planning to host the event in Cape Town, Federer only had one opponent in mind and said he had been trying to enlist Nadal's help for some time.