Novak Djokovic has never been the champion at Roland Garros.
The French Open has eluded the #1-ranked Serbian star as Rafael Nadal has historically clamped down on the red clay courts. But as we saw at Monte Carlo, Djokovic is absolutely on fire – no matter what court surface – and Nadal will have his work cut out for him come the French Open in late May. Still it’s tough to completely discount Nadal from his 8th French Open title.
He’s still only 26 years old and appears nearly fully recovered from the various knee issues he experienced last tennis season.
So who’s going to take it?
The past 8 years, Nadal has taken the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. It wasn’t only impressive that Djokovic beat Nadal and ended his reign but in the manner it was done. The final line was 6-2, 7-6(1). While Nadal put up much more of a fight in the second set compared to the first, Djokovic easily handled Nadal in the tie-break and forehanded his way to match point. It was Nadal’s first loss in a decade at the tournament.
Djokovic has dominated this season and has only lost 2 matches all year. His win percentage following his victory at Monte Carlo is 26-2 with 3 calender titles to this point.
Nadal has admitted he isn’t 100% healed from his knee issues. He admitted after losing that he gets tired much more easily now than he did before.
“Hopefully I can play another great week in Barcelona next week, play some matches that will keep helping to put me I 100 percent shape physically.” Following the Barcelona Open at the end of April, Nadal plans on playing at the Mutua Madrid Open on May 6, then the Italian Open in Rome during the second week of May. If Nadal can continue improving his level of fitness he believes he’s got a good shot to prevent Djokovic from winning his second straight Grand Slam title of 2013.
It seems as if everything is building up to a fantastic finish at Roland Garros. With Nadal looking to peak and Djokovic looking to maintain full throttle, fans will be the true winners come late May. And this is all without mentioning Federer, Murray, along with the talented field such as Tsonga, Ferrer, and del Potro. It seems as if the French Open will be complete with its fair share of surprises, the only question remains is who will it be? As the countdown continues to tick down to May 26, we can continue to speculate as to who will be taking home the La Coupe des Mousquetaires?
Jerome Manson is a sports enthusiast who enjoys both watching games and writing about them. When he is not cheering on his team from the stands, Jerome is blogging about the US Open Tennis for selectaticket.com.