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Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic & Roger Federer bid for more history at Roland Garros


Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are chasing the French Open title (Picture: Getty)

Three of the greatest tennis players of all time can further add to their legacies at the French Open over the next fortnight.

For Rafael Nadal, many will expect it to be business as usual. He has 11 Roland Garros titles to his name and after defeating great rival Novak Djokovic in the Italian Open final last week, it stands to reason that No. 12 is just around the corner.

No other male player has won a tournament 11 times, but the ‘King of Clay’ can surpass his own joint records in Monte Carlo and Barcelona to make the clay courts of Paris his most dominant setting.

Djokovic, his closest rival, is chasing one of the most phenomenal feats ever seen in the sport.

Djokovic is hoping to go all the way (Picture: Soccrates/Getty)

Holding all four major titles once in your career is a stunning achievement in itself – Djokovic, Rod Laver and Don Budge are the only men to have held the four Slams at once – but to do it twice is unheard of in the Open Era on the men’s side.

‘This is the tournament that I was preparing for, so to say, for last couple of months I wanted to peak in this tournament and this is where I want to play my best tennis, Djokovic said.

‘I’m sure I’m not the only one, but, you know, for me, there is an extra motivation and incentive to win Roland Garros because of the opportunity to hold all four Slams, something I did three years ago in my career, and that gives me obviously enough reason to believe I can do it again.’

Roger Federer will go head-to-head with Djokovic for a second record.

Incredibly, no man in the Open Era has won all four Grand Slam events twice or more but the Swiss and the Serb can become the first to do so, should they find their way to victory at Roland Garros.

It seems somewhat more likely that it would be Djokovic to get over the line than Federer. The 37-year-old is making his first appearance in these parts since 2015 and won his sole French Open title 10 years ago.

Could Federer upset the odds on clay? (Picture: Corbis via Getty Images)

Federer will return to action on Sunday against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego and he confessed he has no idea exactly how he will perform in these parts.

‘I’m very happy to be back,’ he said. ‘Maybe a tiny bit more, you know, because I have missed the last three editions, and when you miss something in life, you’re happy to be back there again for me, and this is the case this year. I’m really happy to be back in Paris.

‘[It’s] bit of a question mark for me. Some ways I feel similar to maybe the Australian Open in ’17. A bit of the unknown. I feel like I’m playing good tennis, but is it enough or is it enough against the absolute top guys when it really comes to the crunch? I’m not sure if it’s in my racquet, you know. But I hope I can get myself in that position deep down in the tournament against the top guys, you know.



French Open men’s odds

19/20 – Nadal
14/5 – Djokovic
17/2 – Thiem
22/1 – Tsitsipas
33/1 – Federer
40/1 – Zverev
66/1 – Del Potro
100/1 – Fognini

‘But first I need to get there and I know that’s a challenge in itself. Yeah, it’s definitely going to be an exciting tournament mentally to go through.’

His very first appearance in these parts came 20 years ago. Interestingly, while he is the only one remaining of the 128 players in the men’s singles draw that year here now, one of the players Christian Ruud’s son Casper is a part of this year’s line-up.

It would be a rather wonderful pattern if his two French Open titles landed on the decade after his first showing on the Parisian clay, but there are surely stronger contenders.

One of them is Dominic Thiem.

Can Thiem go all the way? (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Last year’s runner-up, the Austrian will hope to go one better this time around.

‘I mean, my goal is to win the tournament, that’s for sure,’ the world No. 4 said. ‘I mean, I played semis, semis, final. So I really would love to make that one last step, but it’s so tough.

‘I think Rafa is the huge favourite, and then after that, there are also five, six players who can win the tournament. So it’s gonna be very interesting two weeks.’

Stefanos Tsitsipas is probably among Thiem’s five or six contenders – indeed, he’s viewed as more of a favourite than Federer – but there’s no doubting Nadal is the man to beat.

The 32-year-old is also the beneficiary of one of the more straightforward looking draws in recent memory and he will only have to beat one of Thiem or Djokovic.

While I will back the Spaniard to lift a 12th title, don’t be surprised to see history-maker Djokovic overcome the odds. He is certainly a man on a mission.

Prediction: Nadal to win the title





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