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Rafael Nadal who is currently tied with Bjorn Borg on 6 French Open titles is looking to claim his 7th Championship, Nadal is the undisputed king of clay and any arguments over that will go away if he wins tomorrow. The Spaniard's overall clay record in his career is an unbelievable 253 wins to only 19 defeats meaning his win ratio on the surface is 93%. A victory for Nadal tomorrow would also mean that he is only 6 grand slam titles behind another great rival of his, Roger Federer. Rafa has come under some criticism following 3 straight slam defeats to Novak Djokovic but on clay the man is practically unbeatable, in this tournament he hasn't dropped a set and in only 2 sets of 18 has an opponent won more then 3 games against him.
While many favour the warrior that is Nadal there is some pressure on the man, after all if he was to lose to the world number 1 tomorrow how would that leave him mentally? Losing 4 consecutive finals in all of the majors to your new greatest rival. A great Champion will never go away but tomorrow is crucial for both of these men's careers.
Well Novak Djokovic has certainly thrown his name in to the hat with the likes of Federer and Nadal as one of tennis' all-time greats with his performances over the past 2-3 years. In 2011 the Serbian finished the season with a record of 70-6. This included the three wins over Nadal in the three finals, the Australian open, Wimbledon and the US Open. 2012 was always going to be an interesting year in this upcoming rival and in January 2012 the two men had the longest ever men's singles finals match which lasted for a staggering 5 hours and 53 mintues.With a win tomorrow Djokovic would complete a career grand slam and become the first man to hold all 4 grand slams at the same time in the open era.
This final is going to be a big moment in tennis, Novak may feel if he loses tomorrow that he might not get another chance to win on the red clay of France as he has stuttered to get to this stage. Rafa is cruising but as I mentioned before if he loses tomorrow how will he get over this mentally? The French Open's clay is the Spaniard's home, as the Djoker steps in to the king's court only one man can come out on top but who will it be?
Personally if I had to make a choice I'd go for Nadal, as I've said he is practically unbeatable on clay and for him to drop 3 sets in one match when he hasn't dropped one in the whole tournament is unthinkable. Novak will win 1 set at best and with his ability I'll give him that so for a prediction I'll say 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-3 to Nadal.
If that's the case then you can add a new picture to the collection shown below, Vamos Rafa!
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| Nadal's first title at just 19 years old back in 2005 |
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| The Spaniard confirms it wasn't just a once off winning on the red clay again in 2006 |
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| Judging by this picture Nadal was getting tired of lifting trophies, this being his 3rd Roland Garros in a row (2007) |
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| History was achieved in 2008 as Rafa won 4 French Open's in a row matching Bjorn Borg's consecutive record. |
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| After some unfortunate injury problems Nadal fought back and when he crossed paths with the only man to beat him at the French in the final there was only going to be one winner as Rafa clinched his 5th French in 6 years. |
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| Another piece of history was made in Paris by Nadal last spring as he became the first man to win the trophy 6 times in 7 years and also tied Bjorn Borg all-time for French Open victories (6) can he become the official King of Clay tomorrow and make it 7 out of 8? |
Thanks for reading and to end on a nice note I would like to congratulate my wife Maria Sharapova on her victory today at Rolland Garros as she completed a career grand-slam. Fully deserved after battling back from a shoulder injury that would have ended so many players careers.
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