Rafael Nadal: Why Spaniard Will Win Record 7th French Open Title

Rafael Nadal is tennis' king of clay and he looks poised to win his Open Era record seventh French Open championship.

Nadal won last week's Italian Open after falling in the round of 16 at the Madrid Open the previous week. Both clay court tournaments are tune ups for the French Open. While Nadal rival Roger Federer won the title in Madrid, he fell to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in Rome. 

Federer and Djokovic appear to be Nadal's only real competition at Roland Garros, where the Spaniard has a ridiculous 45-1 career record. He has won back-to-back titles at the French Open after winning four in a row from 2005-08. Federer won the title in 2009, as Nadal dropped a fourth-round match to Robin Soderling, who eventually lost to Federer in the championship match.

Djokovic has never won the French Open, but he has captured three straight Grand Slam titles and is currently the world's top player. He has made his way to the semifinals in Paris three times (2007, 2008, 2011), but he has yet to reach the finals in the tournament. Against a clay-court master like Nadal, I don't believe he will be able to win the championship this year. 

The 25-year-old Nadal's six French Open titles are tied with Bjorn Borg as the most at Roland Garros in the Open Era. Considering how young Nadal is and how dominant he has been, he could conceivably win 10 or more titles in Paris before he retires.

His stumble in Madrid was a bit shocking, but the tournament is played on blue clay, which he hinted was the reason for his early exit from the event.

Even Time magazine broke down Nadal's rebound at the Italian Open, and I agree that he looks like he is playing as well as he has in a long time. His momentum should carry him to yet another title in Paris.