Rafael Nadal: Why Rafa Will Win 7th French Open Title

Rafael Nadal will win the 2012 French Open with ease and finally break the Open-era record for victories in the vaunted tournament.

Nadal has a ridiculous 45-1 all-time record at Roland Garros, and enters the tournament on a roll after a victory at the Italian Open. He also went deep into the bracket at Madrid, but the title was eventually won by Roger Federer.

Nadal’s only true competition at Roland Garros is the No. 1 player in the world, Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic defeated Nadal in the final of the Madrid Open in 2011, but has never even reached the final round of the French Open.

On top of that, not only does Nadal dominate at the French Open, but he dominates nearly every tournament on clay. Indeed, Nadal has won the majority of his titles on his favorite surface, 35 of 49 to be exact.

Nadal doesn’t typically lose on the clay surface, with the glaring exception being this year at Madrid, but that was allegedly due to the game-changing blue clay.

Some may consider Federer to be a threat to Nadal, but it's unlikely that the Swiss star will be able to keep up on clay. Nadal has racked up a 12-2 record against Federer on the surface, and that won’t change at this year’s French Open.

Nadal’s first opponent in the tournament will be Simone Bolelli. This will serve as nothing more than a nice warm-up for The King of Clay, as he prepares for potential showdowns with Djokovic and Federer.

Nadal is finally hitting his groove after appearing a bit shaky over the past year. At times he’s displayed a lack of confidence and been easy to agitate.

Not any longer.

He has done a perfect job of building momentum heading into the French Open—not that he needed any. Nadal owns the field there. The signs of agitation are gone, replaced instead by a calm confidence. He realized that no one is going to be able to compete with him as he heads home to Roland Garros.

Nadal is only 25 years old, but he’s heading for his seventh French Open victory already. There’s not a player in the tournament that is going to be able to stop Nadal from winning the 2012 French Open. 

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