Order of play - Nadal battles Del Potro for place in final

Jun 7, 2018, Paris, France: Rafael Nadal (ESP) celebrates match point during his match against Diego Schwartzman (ARG) on day 12 of the 2018 French Open at Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) - World number one Rafa Nadal will play Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in his 11th French Open semi-final appearance on Friday.

It will be the second time Nadal and Del Potro meet at Roland Garros. The previous match up saw the Spaniard beat del Potro in straight sets in the opening round in 2007.

Seventh seed Dominic Thiem will appear in his third straight semi-final in Paris against Italian Marco Cecchinato, who will hope to continue his dream run having beaten former champion Novak Djokovic in the last round.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 7, 2018 Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in action during his quarter final match against Croatia's Marin Cilic REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Cecchinato, who never won a grand slam match prior to this tournament, will face Thiem for the first time in his career.

Order of play on the main showcourts (times GMT, prefix numbers denote seeding):

Court Philippe Chatrier (play starts at 1100)

Semi-finals:

Marco Cecchinato (Italy) v 7-Dominic Thiem (Austria)

Not before 1330

1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) v 5-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)