Can the French Topple Any of the Big Four at Roland Garros 2012?

Such is the dominance of the big four at the last three grand slams it would take a brave person to bet against one of them lifting the French Open trophy this year.

Novak Djokovic is looking to complete the career grand slam and avenge his epic semifinal loss to Roger Federer last year while Rafael Nadal looks to uphold his incredible 45-1 career record at the tournament.

Most would agree that Andy Murray is the outsider of the four but he is a proven player on the clay courts and is expected to make an even stronger challenge at Roland Garros this year after his semifinal defeat to Nadal in 2011.

But what of the Frenchmen who will be in the draw?

Are any of them good enough to beat any of the big four let alone become the first Frenchman to win their home slam since Yannick Noah defeated Mats Wilander in straight sets in 1983?

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The current World No. 5 has had a fantastic twelve months which has seen him reach the semifinals of Wimbledon and final of the ATP World Tour Finals.

However, there are still questions about whether he can produce his best tennis on clay.

In 2011 his record on clay was 6-5, with losses to Ivan Ljubicic in Monte Carlo, Pablo Cuevas in Estoril, Robin Soderling in Madrid, Federer in Rome and Stanislas Wawrinka at the French Open.

Whether Tsonga has learnt anything from last year remains to be seen and his performances at Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome will allow us to make a better assessment of his chances.

Tsonga is of course a 200 lb player who may not be able to move around the court with as much ease as those ranked above him but it will be interesting to find out whether he has learnt anything from his five set loss to Wawrinka in the third round last year.

The 27-year-old had a two set lead before losing that match and will be looking to reach at least the second week this year.

Everyone knows that he can challenge the top four on his day. But a big question mark still remains on clay.

Gael Monfils

In fairness to his compatriots and despite his ranking, Monfils will probably be heading into Roland Garros as France’s main hope.

His agility and light-footedness around the court as well as hard-hitting allows the current 13th ranked player to be a force to be reckoned with on clay.

Whether Monfils can control his erratic nature is a question worth asking, however.

The 25-year-old lost in the quarterfinals of Barcelona and Roland Garros last year and his performance, especially at the French Open, holds great promise for his hopes in 2012.

Last year Monfils beat David Ferrer in the fourth round before losing to Roger Federer in straight sets but he definitely has the talent to challenge the big four.

Whether he can be consistent, however, is the question on everybody’s lips.

Gilles Simon

Simon is arguably the most underrated of the top four French tennis players.

In 2011, the 27-year-old won 50 per cent of his matches on clay and reached the fourth round of the French Open before losing to Robin Soderling in straight sets.

Murray was the only top four player Simon played on clay last year and he lost on both occasions in Monte Carlo and Madrid.

Last year’s fourth round appearance was his best at Roland Garros while he has already lost four times on clay this year.

Looking at his losses on clay in 2012—to the likes of Carlos Berlocq and David Nalbandian—it would be a lot to ask for Simon to go far at the French Open this year.

Against any of the top four, Simon would not have too much success.

Richard Gasquet

Gasquet, the current world no. 18 is sadly, like the other three, very unpredictable.

Last year his record on clay was 12-7 with four of those losses coming against players in the top four.

Nadal and Djokovic both beat Gasquet on clay in 2011 but the Frenchman did overcome Federer in Rome.

You never know quite what Gasquet is going to produce and while he can take heart from his best ever performance at Roland Garros last year (fourth round), he should also be wary that on clay in Spain, he only won seven games against Nadal and Fernando Verdasco combined in the Davis Cup last November.

A Tough Ask

Murray recently described French tennis players as "often quite erratic, with flair, almost with a bit of free spirit" (via BBC Sport). That identity that is shared among all four of these players is unfortunately what will prevent them from beating one of the big four if they meet at Roland Garros.

Neither of them seem to have that consistency to help the obvious flair and talent that they all possess.

Arguably, France's recent loss in the Davis Cup to the USA on clay could be a sign of things to come but we will only truly know whether any of these players can challenge after at least three weeks into the clay court season.

An early prediction would have to go for Tsonga and Monfils as the most capable candidates.