French Open 2014: Novak Djokovic Will End Rafael Nadal’s Reign of Terror

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 22, 2014

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Few athletes or teams have dominated an individual competition quite like Rafael Nadal dominates the French Open. He's won eight of the last nine tournaments there, only dropping the 2009 final to Roger Federer.

So why in the wide world of sports would I pick Novak Djokovic to beat Nadal at Roland Garros?

For one thing, in my opinion, the only player capable of beating Nadal at the French Open is Djokovic, and at some point, Nadal's dominance in the tournament will come to an end. That's a pretty broad brush stroke, however, when painting the portrait of Djokovic smiling triumphantly in France.

More specifically, Djokovic's recent form against Nadal speaks favorably for him besting the Spaniard this year. He's now won four in a row against Nadal, including a win on clay at the Italian Open, his second win over Nadal on the surface in his last three tries.

While Nadal has generally dominated on clay against Djokovic—he's 13-4 all-time on the surface—the two have split their last eight meetings on clay dating back to 2011. Nadal simply no longer has a pronounced advantage on the surface.

He also hasn't had a great clay season, with just one win on the surface (at the Madrid Open). As Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times writes, that's a historically bad clay season for Nadal:

Nadal won last week in Madrid, but he has still had one of the worst clay-court seasons of his career, including quarterfinal losses at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, tournaments he has dominated. The last time Nadal lost three matches on clay before the French Open was in 2003, when he was 16.

With Djokovic winning in Rome, Nadal in Madrid, and third-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka victorious in Monte Carlo, it is the first time that the three clay Masters events have been won by three men since 2004, the last year before Nadal began to dominate the surface.

Adds Chris Chase of For the Win:
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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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