Novak Djokovic: World No. 1 Will Lose Ground to Rafael Nadal at French Open

Rafael Nadal is poised to catch Novak Djokovic atop the ATP World Tennis Rankings, and he will move one step closer by winning the French Open.

Roland Garros has belonged to Nadal, and the Spaniard has won six of the last seven times on the famous clay courts.

Djokovic’s recent record against Nadal on clay will make the Spaniard the favorite in Paris.

The Djoker is no lock for to reach the semifinals. If he is eliminated before then, Nadal will get closer to regaining the top overall ranking.

The Serbian has only reached the semis at the French Open once in the past three years and has historically not done well at the tournament. 

His only semifinals appearance in his last three tries in Paris came last year, while he was in incredible form. This is not the case anymore, and his current status as the world's No. 1 looks to be in jeopardy.

Nadal continued to prove his proficiency on the tricky surface by defeating Djokovic in two sets in the final of the Italian Open on May 21. The victory pushed Nadal past Roger Federer into the No. 2 spot in the world rankings.

After Nadal lost the second spot in the rankings to Federer, questions started to surround him. He had taken over the No. 2 position in July of 2005 and occupied one of the top two spots for most of the years since then.

But this is the time of year that Rafa reminds everyone why he is known as the “King of Clay.”

The stretch of tournaments on clay courts also comes at the perfect time for the Spaniard to make a run at the Djokovic’s spot at the top of the tennis world.

Djokovic is first in the world rankings with 11,800 points, and Nadal is right behind him with 10,060.

Nadal has won three times this year in the finals of a tournament held on clay courts. In addition to the victory in Rome, Nadal also defeated Djokovic to win the Monte Carlo Masters and took out David Ferrer to claim the crown at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Nadal is still dominant on clay, and Djokovic has proven in the last two tournament finals that he cannot compete with Rafa on his favorite surface.  The Serbian is looking to win a fourth consecutive grand slam, but he will be out of his element in Paris.

If Djokovic cannot reach the semifinals, Nadal's momentum will continue to build as he reaches towards the top of the tennis world.