When Roland Garros begins on May 28 Nadal is undoubtedly alpha male on the red dirt after two victories over world number one Novak Djokovic on the treturous surface.
A long held aura of invincibility on clay means most of the Spaniard’s opponents are beaten before they even walk onto court. But last year the 25 year old’s equilibrium was tested by Djokovic who beat him in Madrid and Rome in integral Masters Series events.
However Nadal removed some of the mental baggage the Serbian had over him, twice overcoming the Serb in straight sets on his favourite surface this year. The two victories change the pre-tournament dynamic from 12 months ago when it was the Serbian who looked unbeatable.
Djokovic was putting together an unheralded unbeaten run and hadn’t tasted defeat since October 2010 but the expected collision between the two was de-railed by Roger Federer. The Swiss produced his performance of the year, serving brilliantly and keeping his composure to frustrate the man of 2011, in their semi-final.
Having disposed of Djokovic, the 16-time grand slam champ fell short against Nadal in the final with the 30 year old lacking the fire-power to penetrate the man from Mallorca’s relentless defence.
Nadal’s sixth French Open triumph came at a time he was least at ease on the red stuff. Nadal looked mediocre by his incredible standards in early round victories over John Isner and Ivan Ljubicic and even admitted himself he wasn’t playing well enough to win the major.
Following his early struggles Nadal rallied and upped his intensity to beat Robin Soderling, Andy Murray and Federer, three great tennis, all players fairly comfortably for the title.
If Djokovic and Nadal are set to meet for the first time in a French Open final it will be another chapter into what’s fast developing into one of the great modern sporting rivalries. Two of the greatest defensive players the game has seen, brought new levels of physicality and resilience to tennis, with their classic in the Australian Open final this year. The match lasted nearly six hours and was the most mentally and physically draining contest I’ve ever witnessed. In these classic confrontations when it truly matters the man from Belgrade has often had the last laugh.
The sport’s two top players have contested the last three Grand Slam finals with Djokovic being the last man standing on each occasion. History beckons now for the Serb as if he wins Roland Garros he will hold all four Grand Slams something neither Nadal nor Federer have ever done.
(Federer celebrating victory over Djokovic, the biggest moment of the 2011 French Open.)
The tournament is likely to be a three horse race with one of the all-time greats in Roger Federer far too good to write off. Since succumbing to defeat to Djokovic in Flushing Meadows after squandering two match points last summer, the 2009 French Open champion has been in fine form only losing on four occasions in 2012. Victory in the Madrid Masters on the much maligned blue clay temporarily put Federer back up to the number two spot in the World.
Nadal’s Italian Open victory meant he replaced him and should the sport’s two biggest stars meet it’s hard to see anything other than a Nadal victory but should the six time champ slip up Federer is more than capable of repeating his 2009 run to the championship.
Outside of the big three, Andy Murray has been largely disappointing since the clay season begun. The World number four hasn’t reached the high standards set by the three men he has been chasing his entire career. But now also looks inferior to Thomas Berdych and David Ferrer on the surface.
His intriguing appointment of Ivan Lendl as coach looked inspired, after an impressive run at the Australian Open where the world number one only just overcame him in a marathon five-setter.
Following another near-miss at a major Murray has been under-whelming especially at this stage of the ATP Tour calendar with Milos Raonic and Berdych bettering him prior to last week’s lethargic display against Richard Gasquet. Matching last year’s semi-final appearance would mark a success for Britain’s number one.
David ferrer and Berdych look most likely to upset the apple-cart, the world number six and seven respectively have looked as good and come as close as anyone to beating Nadal on the red clay. Berdych continues to improve as he looks correct the mental frailties that have left him major-less at 26. His power and ball striking pushed Nadal in an incredible contest in Rome and a week earlier in Madrid, he came within a whisker of defeating Federer in the Madrid Open Final.
Like the giant Czech, Ferrer has impressed against his compatriot Nadal, losing out in an epic first set before succumbing in Rome and pushing him hard in the Barcelona Open final, a tournament Nadal never loses at.
(Future star Milos Raonic pushing Federer to his limit in Madrid. Could he potentially make a breakthrough at Roland Garros? )
In the rest of the field many tennis fans will continue to track the progress of Milos Raonic. The World number 22 is widely tipped to soon be challenging for grand slam titles and already possesses a monster serve which is already one the biggest weapons on tour.
The other player making waves on the ATP Tour this year is John Isner, best known to sports fans as the winner of the unbelievable record-breaking marathon 1st round Wimbledon match that lasted over 11 hours. The American is now mentally and physically recovered from the draining match and earlier this year broke into the World’s top ten for the first time. Importantly Isner has impressed in five set contests, this year representing USA in the Davis Cup he has overcome Giles Simon, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Federer.
While their powerful game and huge serves are most easily negated clay and their impact may be bigger at Wimbledon the big three are unlikely to want these big serving giants in their quarter.
World number five Jo-Wilfred Tsonga has struggled with home country pressure and also using his natural power in France but has the ability to beat anyone in the World when firing. Juan Martin Del Potro is also worthy of mention. The Argentine hasn't matched the heights of winning the 2009 US Open since returning from his wrist injury in early 2011. But is still a tough assignment for any player. His third round contest with Djokovic last year was one of the standout matches of the tournament 12 months ago.
