Australian Open 2012: Rafael Nadal Will Learn from Loss and Dominate French Open

Rafael Nadal will learn from his mistakes at the 2012 Australian Open.

The next major tournament up for the clay-master is the French Open, where Rafa has won six out of the last seven finals. Nadal is a ridiculous 45-1 in French Open matches for his career, a 97.8 career win percentage.

Basically, no one beats Rafa at the French Open, not even Novak Djokovic, who is just 2-9 against Nadal on clay surfaces despite having taken the last seven head-to-head meetings between the two.

The top-ranked Djoker will be tested in Paris this coming May, where he has yet to make it past the semifinal round in seven tries at the tournament. The French Open is the only Grand Slam that Djokovic has yet to claim hold of, and that bodes well for Nadal's chances at domination in 2012.

Djokovic's loss to Roger Federer in the semifinal of last year's event was his only defeat of the 2011 season, meaning Nadal will be the hands down favorite heading into the year's second slam tournament.

Despite falling to Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open, Nadal still leads the Serbian 10-5 in Grand Slam men's singles titles. Also both are similar in age, both in their mid-20s, and will likely be adversaries for a few years to come. 

The lopsided rivalry has to even out at some point, doesn't it?

Their epic 2012 Aussie Open final evidenced that they can match each other point for point on the sport's biggest stage. Still, though, Nadal leads the major race as well as the head-to-head, 16-14 through 30 matches. 

At age 25, Nadal is far from done, his losing streak to Djokovic has become more mental than anything else. Physically, the Spaniard can hold up against anyone in any environment, especially at the French Open.

The fact that Europe is much closer to home for Nadal than Melbourne, Australia cannot be denied, either.

Even if Djokovic can build on his match streak against Nadal as the season wares on, it's only a matter of time before Paris arrives, and the clay sensation Nadal rises to the occasion to claim a legendary seventh French Open championship.

The French Open is unlike any other Grand Slam, it's an entirely different game of tennis.