Why Novak Djokovic Is the Safest Bet to Win the 2013 French Open

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at Internationaled.org

Published: June 4, 2013

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With the top three seeds Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all making it into the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, the tournament sets itself for an intriguing conclusion. Although all three contenders will be looking to add to their already vast trophy collections, it’s Djokovic who seems the most prepared to bring home the glory.  

After spending seven months off the courts due to a severe injury to his knee, Nadal reached the finals in all eight tournaments he has played this year, winning six of them. This included the easy win over Federer in Rome last month. This is Nadal’s best-ever record in the months leading up to the French Open.

However, his form has since significantly dropped.

In the first round of the French, he struggled against unseeded Daniel Brands from Germany. According to Christopher Clarey of the New York Times, Brands watched replays of Nadal’s match against Robin Soderling in 2009 (Nadal’s one and only loss at the French) to formulate a game plan to give the Spaniard a serious scare.

As Clarey writes, in order to beat Nadal on clay, “an underdog must serve like a demigod, take enormous risks off the ground and…stay loose enough down the pressurized stretch to keep finding line after line.” According to Clarey, this ultimately deprives Nadal of what he thrives on: “time to react, time to construct, time to believe.”

Brands nearly managed what would have been one of the greatest upsets of all time, forcing Nadal to grind out a tough 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3 victory.  

Brands’ display clearly inspired the Spaniard’s next opponents, exposing a mental weakness in Nadal previously unseen on clay. In the second round, the world’s current No. 4 met another obstacle in the form of unseeded Slovakian Martin Klizan. For the first time ever at Roland Garros, Nadal lost the first set...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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