French Open 2012: Don't Underestimate Roger Federer's Chances to Win French Open

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are coming into this year's French Open as the favorites to win at Roland Garros, and rightly so, but don't underestimate Roger Federer's chances to pull off a surprising victory in Paris.

With Nadal going after his seventh French Open singles title in eight years, his most difficult obstacle in that challenge could be Federer, not Djokovic.

The Serbian star has won three straight Grand Slam singles titles, but he has historically underperformed at Roland Garros.

Djokovic has never made it to the final match at the French Open and hasn't had amazing success on clay recently.

Federer has made the final at the French Open in four of the last seven years and won the tournament in 2009 by defeating Robin Soderling in the final.

He knows the clay courts of Paris well and has great experience in the tournament. Federer is certainly confident about his ability to perform well on clay at Paris given his past success at the tournament and his strong performances in 2012 thus far.

Earlier this month, Federer won the Madrid Open on clay by defeating Tomas Berdych in the final. The tournament victory showed how Federer's game on clay has improved over the years.

Federer is a very well-conditioned athlete, and even though he hasn't won a Grand Slam tournament since 2010, he's still one of the toughest players to beat in tennis. You hardly ever see Federer get beaten easily.

He still has a powerful serve, he's still a quick player and he is one of the most intelligent players on tour.

Don't underestimate Federer at the French Open this year, because he's more than capable of beating Nadal or Djokovic on clay in Paris.