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Nadal primed for an 11th French Open Title

Neill Simpson 26 th May 2018

Can anyone stop Rafa Nadal surging towards an 1tth French Open title?

Perhaps Alex Zverev, Dominic Thiem or a rejuvenated Novak Djokovic, could steal Nadal’s thunder in Paris, although this seems highly unlikely.

Age and fitness is not an issue here for Nadal, and let’s not forget the Spaniard has dominated in Paris since he was first crowned champion back in 2005, which incidentally was his debut, just to refresh the memory, or to educate the new generation of tennis fans.

What I am trying to say here, is that this French Open is yet again Nadal’s to lose, simple as that.

No Roger Federer, as he has chosen to miss the clay-court season for a second consecutive year, Djokovic is still finding his feet after a long injury lay-off, while Andy Murray has only just starting to hit balls after surgery.

With all the big guns missing, it is down to the rising talent to find a weakness in Nadal’s red-dirt game, something no opponent has yet to achieve down the years.

Look, at the end of the day, Nadal is only human, and if he does have a bad day in the office, of course he won’t be lifting the La Coupe des Mousquetaires for an incredibly 11th time.

However, the person that does manage to do the unthinkable and dethrone the Spaniard, will find themselves in elite company, as only Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka have managed to achieve this feat since 2005.

Taking a set off Nadal on clay has been a tough job in itself down the years. Factor in his perennial form on the surface, in particular this year, which has seen him lose just the 1 match in 27, then surely you get my point?

Nadal has warmed up for the French Open with victory at the Monte Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open and the Italian Open. He also reached the semifinals of the Madrid Open. This is some of tne best form Nadal has shown coming into the Paris showpiece.

One person that could potentially challenge him is, 21-year-old Alex Zverev, an 8-time ATP Tour winner and Madrid Open Champion few weeks back.

Zverev is unquestionably a future world number one in the waiting, although before he gets there, he has to break the stranglehold of one of the greatest generations the sport has ever seen, a dominance they are not quite ready to relinquish yet.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem, is another alongside Zeverev, that could upset the form of Nadal. Thiem, is a very accomplished player on all surfaces, a semifinalist in the 2016 and 2017 French Open and a losing finalist to Zverev in the recent Madrid open.

Worth a mention here, he did beat Nadal in the semifinals in Madrid, the only loss the Spaniard has suffered on clay this season!

Thiem is a 15-time ATP Tour winner, seven of those coming on clay. He has also been a losing finalist on five occasions on the surface. Not too bad for the early stages of his career when you consider Boris Becker never won a clay court tournament in 77 professional titles.

And then there is Novak Djokovic, 12-time Grand Slam Champion, 2016 French Open winner and 13 ATP Tour titles from 23 clay-court finals. Djokovic is already a legend of the sport and at just 30-years-of-age, still yet to finish writing his own scripts in the history of the game.

Djokovic has been on a road to recovery after being out of the game for personal and injury problems. As expected, his form has been difficult to come by, although the good old cliché, “form is temporary and class is permanent” will prevail in this case.

The question is. Will this happen in Paris or a few weeks later at Wimbledon?

If Thiem, Zverev or anyone else for that matter are going to dethrone Nadal at Roland-Garros in 2018, they need to overcome one of the greatest players of all time, playing some of the greatest tennis of their careers. Not too much to ask!

Neill Simpson 26th May 2018
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