Roger Federer: Breaking Down Fed-Ex's Biggest French Open Threats by the Numbers
If Roger Federer is going to win the second French Open of his career, he's going to have to get past two world-class players and defy history.
Easy enough, right?
Let's take a closer look at Fed's biggest obstacles, and why the numbers and history suggest getting past them will be a very tall task.
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The King of Clay has that nickname for a reason.
Of his seven French Open tournaments, he has an amazing six wins, and even that statement probably doesn't do Rafa's dominance justice. He's as close to unbeatable on clay as possible.
Additionally, Nadal has knocked out Federer in five of those Opens, with four of them coming in the Finals.
You can bet the world No. 2 and 3 will see each other in the semifinals once again at Roland Garros, and if Federer wants to pull the upset, he'll have to beat Nadal on clay for the first time since he did it in Madrid in 2009.
For the record, that is one of just two wins for Fed-Ex against Rafa on clay.
If Federer can get past Nadal in the semis, he'll likely find the Djoker in the finals, but even that isn't a sure thing. Djokovic has yet to reach the Finals at the French Open, as it has easily been his worst major.
Should they meet, Federer will get a chance to avenge this week's loss in Rome.
That loss, by the way, was just the fifth time Federer and Djokovic have met on clay. Fed-Ex has won three of those matchups, including a win at Roland Garros last year.
If Federer and Nadal do in fact meet in the semifinal, I would conjecture the winner of that match would be the favorite to win the tournament.
Should Federer get to the final, another likely opponent would be Andy Murray, who made it to the semis last year before running into Mr. Nadal.
That semifinal last year, however, was Murray's best finish ever at Roland Garros.
Oddly enough, this is a matchup I would actually enjoy seeing. Federer and Murray, believe it or not, have never met on clay.
They've matched up with each other 15 times throughout their careers, with Murray winning eight, but none of them have been on clay.
Furthermore, these two have only battled once after London in late 2010, and that came earlier this year in Dubai, where Federer beat Murray in straight sets in the final.
These two don't have a rivalry like the main three all have with each other, but it will still provide plenty of intrigue should they meet up.
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