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Can't really see how anyone is going to take this from Nadal. There are still 2 more clay court tournaments (Madrid and Rome) before Roland Garros so I would like to wait and see how he and the rest of the competition performs there before anointing him the clear favourite.

He looks indomitable though and his confidence is no doubt at an all time high since the Australian Open finals. It's truly special how he is a completely different beast on clay compared to the other surfaces. Don't get me wrong he is great on the other courts too but the clay is his throne.

As for the tournament, I will be rooting for Federer and Raonic (Canadian kid). If Djokovic and Nadal do face off in the finals again I'll be rooting for a Djokovic win but I wouldn't mind settling for a 5 setter and a Nadal W.

Windmill wrote:Can't really see how anyone is going to take this from Nadal. There are still 2 more clay court tournaments (Madrid and Rome) before Roland Garros so I would like to wait and see how he and the rest of the competition performs there before anointing him the clear favourite.

He looks indomitable though and his confidence is no doubt at an all time high since the Australian Open finals. It's truly special how he is a completely different beast on clay compared to the other surfaces. Don't get me wrong he is great on the other courts too but the clay is his throne.

As for the tournament, I will be rooting for Federer and Raonic (Canadian kid). If Djokovic and Nadal do face off in the finals again I'll be rooting for a Djokovic win but I wouldn't mind settling for a 5 setter and a Nadal W.

Yep definitely not a done deal. Djokovic won Madrid and Rome last year, and then Federer beat Djokovic at Roland Garros. So it's unpredictable who will come through Roland Garros apart from Nadal. Nadal vs Federer maybe the most likely Roland Garros final, but I would prefer Nadal vs Djokovic just because it is the most important rivalry in tennis, and they will probably end up meeting around 50 times. Might as well play a Roland Garros final for a change.

It ain't over til it's over, but clearly Rafa is a big favorite at Roland Garros, and if he does it, that will be a big deal. 7-time winner is huge.

Doctor MJ wrote:It ain't over til it's over, but clearly Rafa is a big favorite at Roland Garros, and if he does it, that will be a big deal. 7-time winner is huge.

Yep the only guy who's won a specific slam 7 times is Sampras.

I'll be rooting for Andy Murray..
and on the women side, Li Na could be the favourite to defend the title, or maybe Maria Sharapova comes true and completes the 4 grand slams

The Roland Garros Draw has been completed.

Semis:
Nadal vs Murray.
Djokovic vs Federer.

Quarters:
Nadal vs Tipsarevic.
Murray vs Ferrer.
Djokovic vs Tsonga.
Federer vs Berdych.

btw, just to update on the winners of each clay event this year:
Monte Carlo - Nadal defeated Djokovic 6-3 6-1.
Barcelona - Nadal defeated Ferrer 7-6 7-5.
Madrid - Federer defeated Berdych 3-6 7-5 7-5.
Rome - Nadal defeated Djokovic 7-5 6-3.

Roddick is out in the first day.

Clay is no American's friend.

Another tournament, another couple of records broken by Fed:

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/federer-ties-connors-grand-slam-124235336--ten.html;_ylt=Alc2MVHbXav_W05srrB2G0A4NgU6

Really hope he puts lessons from past matches to good use and surprises this year. Fed has tended to be stubborn and not make necessary adjustments to take advantage. And hopefully beating Nadal on clay will help him get over the mental hump he's got (much like the one Rafa now has with Joker).

Go Roger!

(p.s. good luck to Canuck Milos, too)

That hump is well over. Nadal has won his last 2 meetings with Djokovic (in straight sets too), both were in Masters events this year. Nadal actually leads Djokovic 18-14 head2head, and 5-3 in slam meetings. All Djokovic could do was beat Nadal for 9 months.

The "hump" or volcano that Federer faces vs Nadal....well Federer hasn't beaten Nadal at a slam since 2007. Federer even had a 26 match winning streak heading into his 2012 Australian Open semi-final, and Nadal still beat him in 4 sets. It gets harder for Federer to beat Nadal each year, because Nadal is a late-bloomer on hardcourts, and hardcourts are Federer's strength. And on clay, Nadal won 3 events this year and didn't drop a set in any of those 3 events.

VAMOSFIRE wrote:That hump is well over. Nadal has won his last 2 meetings with Djokovic (in straight sets too), both were in Masters events this year. Nadal actually leads Djokovic 18-14 head2head, and 5-3 in slam meetings. All Djokovic could do was beat Nadal for 9 months.

The "hump" or volcano that Federer faces vs Nadal....well Federer hasn't beaten Nadal at a slam since 2007. Federer even had a 26 match winning streak heading into his 2012 Australian Open semi-final, and Nadal still beat him in 4 sets.

I agree with you about Rafa still being in Fed's head, but I think you're skewing the numbers in Nadal's favour against Joker. 18-14 head-to-head, and 5-3 in slams overall, sure, but what was the head-to-head in the last 9 months? That's when the big turn happened. And one of those Masters wins iirc was just after Joker's grandfather died - hard to focus on tennis no matter what level you're playing at. I still think Nadal's the guy to beat on clay, of course, but all other surfaces, Joker's raised his game significantly.

VAMOSFIRE wrote:That hump is well over. Nadal has won his last 2 meetings with Djokovic (in straight sets too), both were in Masters events this year. Nadal actually leads Djokovic 18-14 head2head, and 5-3 in slam meetings. All Djokovic could do was beat Nadal for 9 months.

The "hump" or volcano that Federer faces vs Nadal....well Federer hasn't beaten Nadal at a slam since 2007. Federer even had a 26 match winning streak heading into his 2012 Australian Open semi-final, and Nadal still beat him in 4 sets. It gets harder for Federer to beat Nadal each year, because Nadal is a late-bloomer on hardcourts, and hardcourts are Federer's strength. And on clay, Nadal won 3 events this year and didn't drop a set in any of those 3 events.

You're being silly here trying to spin this into Nadal doing something Federer couldn't do.

In 2011 before the French, Djokovic was 37-0.
In 2012 before the French, Djokovic was 30-5.

Most of those losses aren't to Nadal, so this is really ALL about Djokovic playing much worse than he did last year.

What has Nadal done this year? Fail to win 5 tournaments he's played in thus far with only a fraction of the season completed. In other words, he's once again not dominating at the level we saw of Djokovic last year or Federer back in his peak.

So yeah, this is not about Rafa, it's about Nola.

Dude, whats this "scream" rule... Razzano was called out several times for this... what a drama..

Doctor MJ wrote:
What has Nadal done this year? Fail to win 5 tournaments he's played in thus far with only a fraction of the season completed. In other words, he's once again not dominating at the level we saw of Djokovic last year or Federer back in his peak.

So yeah, this is not about Rafa, it's about Nola.

This year Nadal is 34-4 and has won:
Monte Carlo Masters (beat Djokovic in the final).
Barcelona.
Rome Masters (beat Djokovic in the final).

And Nadal didn't drop a set in any of those 3 events. First time in his entire career that he hasn't dropped a set in all 3 of those events. Oh and Nadal made the Australian Open final this year (a very good result considering he lost in the QF in 2010 and 2011).

Nadal is having a better year so far than he had in 2010 at the same stage. 2010 was the year Nadal won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open (became the only man in history to win slams on clay, grass and hardcourt in a calendar year). I think he'll do it again this year, because he is playing better now than he did in 2010. Had a poor 2011, and actually was stretched to 5 sets by Isner in Round One of last year's French Open. That is the only 5-setter Nadal has ever played at Roland Garros. Easier Round One today, 6-2 6-2 6-1.

I love Nadal fans so much.

Haven't had any time to watch yet, and tbh, this is my least favorite of the Grand Slams anyway. Can't believe Serena lost.

And now Venus is out, too. WOW. At least her opponent was better known/stiffer competition, but still...

Been a long time between drinks for Venus, at any slam. If she loses early at Wimbledon, could be the end for her.

I thought the other slams were trying to limit fifth-sets after Isner-Mahut.