In reaching the final after missing last year's tournament Nadal has cemented his world No. 1 ranking and will be hard to shift from the summit but below him the landscape is changing.
A victory would make the Spanish left-hander the third man to win all four grand slam titles twice, joining Australians Rod Laver and Roy Emerson, and also draw him level with Pete Sampras on 14 career major titles.
Novak Djokovic once had a reputation for wilting when the physical strain became too much - not anymore.
Defending doubles gold medallists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka were stretched by Japanese pairing Kei Nishikoir and Go Saeda on Monday, with the Swiss only winning the thrilling match 6-7 6-4 6-4 as darkness fell.
Local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept his eye on the prize to reach the French Open quarter-finals for the first time with a 6-4 7-6 3-6 3-6 6-4 win against Swiss 18th seed Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday.
Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka edged out former champion Xavier Malisse 7-5 4-6 6-1 on Sunday to win the Chennai Open title that eluded him 12 months ago.
Chennai Open men's singles quarter-final results from India on Friday.