The French Open men's final was halted on Sunday after persistent rains, with the match ongoing in the fourth set. The final will now be continued on Monday.

Rafael Nadal, bidding for his seventh Roland Garros title, was leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2 over Novak Djokovic, who is looking to become only the third player in history, and the first since Rod Laver in 1969, to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.

Nadal and Djokovic are playing each other in a fourth consecutive Grand Slam, with the world number one Serbian winning the previous three, including a near six-hour battle at the Australian Open this year.

At the early stages, it looked like Nadal would waltz over Djokovic, like the Spaniard has done the entire tournament. The world number two took the first set 6-4, after initially throwing away a 3-0 lead. The second set was a little more straightforward with the Spaniard's heavy shots making it difficult for Djokovic. After taking the second set, 6-3, it looked like a seventh French Open win for Nadal was just around the corner.

However, Djokovic, faced with the daunting task of becoming the first person to beat Nadal, after losing the first two sets and with nothing to lose, started making one winner after another as Nadal's heavy hitting failed to have the desired effect in the overcast conditions.

The third set went to the Serbian 6-2 and he took the first two games of the fourth set, before Nadal pegged it back to 2-1. Rain halted play for the final time and will now resume on Monday. However, rain is forecast for throughout the day on Monday.