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Djokovic's Title to Lose

Yes, the stage is set for Novak Djokovic to finally nail that elusive French Open to complete the career grand slam. If he manage to win at Roland Garros this year, he will become the 8th person (4th person in the open era) in the history of tennis to win the career grand slam, joining an elusive list which include Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.


The world no.1 player seems to manage to find his form that he produced in 2011 when he went on to win three grand slam titles in a single calendar year. This year, victories at Melbourne, Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome make him a clear favorite to win the French. Among those victories, he has won 4 out of 5 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and is riding a 22 match unbeaten streak coming into the second major of the year. He is now 35-2 for the season, with the only two lost came in Doha (Lost to Karlovic) and Dubai (Lost to Federer).


Djokovic has come close to winning the French over the past few years. He has lost to Rafael Nadal for the past three straight years. The 2013 defeat being Djokovic’s closest attempt to beat Nadal, losing the fifth set 9-7.


The biggest rival to Djokovic will definitely be the “King of Clay” - Rafael Nadal. Although he has struggled badly since he came back from an injury, he is definitely still the man to beat in Roland Garros. But a series of poor results this year make it hard to convince that he is the favorite to win. So far, he has only managed to win a title on clay at Buenos Aires, a ATP World Tour Masters 250 tournament. His defeat at Monte Carlo (Lost to Djokovic), Barcelona (Lost to F.Fognini), Madrid (Lost to Murray), and Rome (Lost to Wawrinka) just doesn’t do well for Nadal’s confidence in his favorite surface.


Nadal has always win at least one of these four clay court events heading into the French. These tournaments are warm-up event that gave players the preparation needed for the French Open. The last time Nadal didn’t win any of these four events (Hamburg was replaced by Madrid in 2010) was way back in 2004. Back then, Nadal hasn’t even won his first French title yet. So, it will take a monumental task for Nadal to gain back both his confidence and form to win his 10th French Open title.


Federer, at the age of 33 has been playing great tennis at this point of his career. But his playing style will not bold well with the physical game the clay courts requires. Andy Murray, who beat Nadal in Madrid could perhaps be the surprise package at this year’s tournament. But compare to Djokovic’s record this season, Murray still has some ground to make up. Wawrinka, who could have a chance to win another grand slam, still has a lot to prove on the clay court.  

With nobody else stepping up to be a contender for grand slam titles, it is hard to imagine anyone outside the “Big Four” is able to lift the trophy at French. With Djokovic’s sky-high confidence and outstanding performance this season, the stage is set for him to finally win the career grand slam.

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