As the French Open looms so does the presence of Rafael Nadal as he searches out his fifth successive title in Paris.Nadal’s relationship with Roland Garros has failed to break down as the Spaniard goes in unbeaten on the French dirt. But the question remains is there anyone who can stop the world number one from adding to his tally?
The simple answer to this is no. Who could possibly get past a player who is at the top of his game as he continually tares up the rest of the field with his ferocious shot making.
On clay Nadal is dominant and it is hard to see anyone from stopping him especially in five sets. He looked simply unbeatable in last year’s campaign making easy work of the world’s best, including a straight sets demolition of Roger Federer in the final.
In fact the only person who can stop him is himself. At the moment he is working his body to the ground and as demonstrated in his loss to Federer in Madrid last Sunday cracks are beginning to appear.
Madrid was a bitter pill for Rafa in front of a partisan crowd however it was Djokovic not Federer that took the wind out of Nadal’s sails. His near four hour clash with the world number four exhausted the Spaniard and it was pure grit in the end that pulled him through.
Djokovic is in great form at the moment and is possibly the only potential threat to Rafa’s crown and if the draw goes to plan they could meet each other in the final.
However there is no doubt that Rafael Nadal work tirelessly to regain the title once more moving him one step closer to Bjorn Borg’s record of six straight.
The king of clay begins his march against world number 96 Marcos Daniel on Monday.
By Geoff Berkeley
Pic by aldinegirl12
