Stan Wawrinka looked a little nervy as he fumbled a ball lobbed to him by one of the ballkids, but that was ultimately an assured hold after he came under some early pressure.

Wawrinka whittled off the first two points for 30-0. There are no grace games against Novak Djokovic though and the Serb finds his range and nibbles his way back, bit-by-bit, to earn a break point.

An overcooked forehand return clears the baseline to let Stan off the hook. Biff, bosh, bish, bash - a monster 39-shot rally follows and crumbles Wawrinka's way. If you are winning those sort of exchanges against Djokovic you are doing something right.

Image source, Getty Images

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Roland Garros

"There was a huge roar as both men emerged into the sunlight on Chatrier, which looks like it will actually be full for the start of the match. Chants of "Nole! Nole!" rang around the stadium and Team Novak were up on their feet, clapping along. It's a huge day for the world number one and also for Serbia, with a sporting superstar on the verge of becoming a bona fide all-time great. That is unless Wawrinka has one of his magical days, in which case Djokovic might just have to wait another year."

Miles Maclagan
Former coach to Andy Murray and Laura Robson on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"Djokovic at his very best is unbeatable. His best level is possibly the best level of tennis ever seen. We have seen periods of tennis where it looks impossible to win a point against him. If he can produce that then he will be holding the trophy later.

"But Stan does have the power to rattle Djokovic and take him out of the comfort zone. Stan has transformed from a great player to a Grand Slam winner and he needs to call on that power today."

The players pose at the net for a snap before umpire Damien Dumusois issues instructions. It is all very polite. Stan allows Novak to call the toss and then opts to serve when the Serb's guess of heads proves wrong.

Image source, AP

Edward Ditchfield: Not going to be the walkover everyone expects, but Djokovic in four sets to cement his place amongst the all time greats.

The two players stroll out onto Philippe-Chatrier and it is Novak Djokovic who wins the decibel count. By some distance.

"No-vak! No-vak!," chant the crowd as the players rummage about in their racquet bags for bits and pieces.

Looks like Stan Wawrinka will have the majority of the crowd as well as the worlds best player to contend with today.

Short of some Isner-Mahut style shenanigans, there is no excuse for not getting this one done and dusted tonight.

With not a drop of rain on the radar, there should be enough light to accommodate even a ding-donging five-set epic between Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic.

We have already had pictures of Stan's ink and Andre's headband in this live text.

As well as your predictions for the match, we are after the accessories, gadgets and style touches sported by players past and present that you would like to see more of. Or less of for that matter.

Shout up on #bbctennis, external on Twitter and 81111 on text to let us know.

I'm going for Arantxa Sanchez-Vicaro's natty behind-the-back ball-holder as my pick.

Image source, Getty Images

Nerve. Mental strength. A refusal to bow to physical pain.

All useful when it comes to winning Grand Slams. And also when you decide you want to get six sentences worth of prose tattooed on yourself.

Fortunately for Stan, they are pretty short. The Swiss went for some words of Samuel Beckett's - "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better" - down his forearm.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AP

Novak Djokovic is in a white-hot run of form at the moment.

Since his son Stefan was born in October, Djokovic has won every Grand Slam and Masters event he has entered, claiming titles in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome as well as the Australian Open. He also lifted the World Tour Finals in London in December.

He has won his last 28 matches, with his last defeat coming against Roger Federer in the final of the Dubai event in February.

Coming into this tournament he was more than 4,500 points clear at the top of the rankings, with very nearly double number three Andy Murray's total.

However you cut it, he is top dog.

Image source, EPA

The French Open crowd face a bit of a dilemma today. They love an underdog. But they are not that keen on Stan Wawrinka.

When the Swiss beat France in the David Cup final in November, Wawrinka offered the not-so-diplomatic opinion that his team "had let their racquets do the talking"., external

The French team did not take very kindly to those comments and there was reportedly a low-level barney at the post-match celebratory dinner.

Wawrinka has copped some jeers after beating Gilles Simon in the fourth round and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals this week., external

"I have the impression that what happened during the Davis Cup last year - as I said before, things that maybe had gone too far," said Wawrinka.

"I didn't want to harm anybody. I wasn't nasty against anybody. You know, it's about joking... but the crowd will remember."

Image source, Getty Images

First round: beat Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 7-5 6-2

Second round: beat Gilles Muller 6-1 6-4 6-4

Third round: beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-4 6-4

Fourth round: beat 20th seed Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-2 6-3

Quarter final: beat sixth seed Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 6-1

Semi-final: beat third seed Andy Murray 6-3 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-1

Total time on court: 14 hours 16 mins

Image source, AP

First round: beat Marsel Ilhan 6-3 6-2 6-3

Second round: beat Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3

Third round: beat Steve Johnson 6-4 6-3 6-2

Fourth round: beat 12th seed Gilles Simon 6-1 6-4 6-2

Quarter-final: beat second seed Roger Federer 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Semi-final: beat 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4

Total time on court: 13 hours 28 mins

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

The audio commentary of today's final is taking us back to the old school with an A side/B side arrangement.

BBC 5 live sports extra will be broadcasting the first hour, before we switch to 5 live from 15:00 BST.

No need to touch that dial though if you are listening via this page, just use the audio icon at the top.

Image source, Getty Images

Novak Djokovic may appear to hold a hoodoo over Andy Murray, but Stan Wawrinka is confident that he has the mental toughness to succeed where the Briton has failed.

"A year ago in Australia he had won three matches in a row, and I was thinking, what am I going to do?" said Wawrinka, whose only win in his last 17 meetings with the Serb came in the quarter-final at Melbourne last year.

"But the next thing to do is to play my best tennis, don't forget that my game is bothering the top players, and when I start and I'm in form, I can perhaps seize this opportunity to defeat them all."

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Roland Garros

Image source, Getty Images

"Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, who lost in the singles' final to Serena Williams yesterday, have just proved very popular winners of the women's doubles - the US/Czech partnership have only recently left the court after gazing happily at their names on the trophy.

"That leaves one major trophy to play for and Wawrinka was the first man out on Chatrier to hit at 11:15 local time this morning, before Djokovic went through his routine at midday, finished off by a game of tennis-ball-boules with his team. You would think they'd let him win today.

Image source, EPA

It is a select band, but the seven men to have won all four Grand Slam titles might have to budge up to make room in their exclusive little lockerroom this afternoon.

Novak Djokovic has five Australian Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, a US Open and a Coupe des Mousquetaires-shaped gap on his mantelpiece.

Victory over Stan Wawrinka today would complete his collection and ensure his place among the greatest of the great.