Novak Djokovic: 5 Biggest Hurdles for Djoker at the 2012 French Open

With the French Open upon us, the biggest question is one that regards big two in tennis today.

Will Rafa retain his title and remain the King of Clay or will Novak Djokovic accomplish the prestigious career grand slam?

This article covers both people, but focuses more on the latter, as I will use the draw to break down which potential matchups could prove traps for the Serb, as well as what he needs to do and avoid doing over the course of the Open.

Last year, prior to Roland Garros, almost everyone projected a clear path to the final for Djokovic. Except for Federer. The Swiss Maestro proved that he could beat Novak when it really mattered, denying Djokovic a spot in the final.

This year, however, he looks weaker than he did last year, but so does Federer.

How far will Djokovic get?

No one expected Potito Starace to give him such a great fight in the first set, so let's see how unpredictable things get.

*SLIDE TITLES WITH MULTIPLE PLAYERS ARE POSSIBLE OPPONENTS TO PLAY DJOKOVIC

Verdasco (14)

Dispatching Steve Darcis of Belgium, Fernando Verdasco looked strong.

Not his old self, but strong.

His previous four clay results were: round of 32 (Rome), quarters (Madrid), semis (Barcelona), and round of 16 (Monte Carlo). 

The highlight of this year is probably his win over Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 in Madrid, where he came back from a 5-2 third set deficit to overcome his compatriot. It was seemingly an emotional win, as he fell to his knees after the match—his first career win over Rafa.

If he runs into Djokovic, it should be a very good match. It promises to have long points, as both players are excellent athletes and consistent on this dirt.

Though Verdasco may end up giving Novak a run for his money, he doesn't have a great chance of actually beating the world No.1.

Prediction: Djokovic in 4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No. 5 Seed)/Gilles Simon (No. 12 Seed)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga started very slowly against world No.160 Alex Kuznetsov in the first round. He lost the first set 6-1, but kept his composure later on to win in four.

If Djokovic were to play Tsonga on grass, I would give Tsonga maybe a 45 percent chance, but unfortunately, this isn't hard-hitting Jo-Willy's preferred surface. At Roland Garros, I would say he has less than a 30 percent chance.

Gilles Simon is the kind of player best suited for clay. He is a counterpuncher, without any major weapon, but he always gets the ball back.

This slow red clay enables him to get more balls back, and that showed as he beat Ryan Harrison, whose playing style is similar to his. After losing the first set, he also came back to win it in four, and will face American breakout player Brian Baker.

I would give Tsonga more of a chance, simply because I don't think Simon would be able to compete with Djokovic, who can consistently hit hard. (Also Simon has only won 29 percent of the time against top 10 opposition in his career.)

Prediction: Djokovic over Tsonga in 3

Federer (3)/Berdych (7)/Del Potro (9)

This is a very interesting part of the draw. Berdych and del Potro can face each other in the round of 16, and the winner of that match will face Federer, assuming Roger gets that far.

Both Berdych and Federer looked rock-solid in their first round matchups, winning in straight sets. However, del Potro dropped a set, though it was against Albert Montanes, a particularly good clay court player.

I think that Berdych will manage to beat del Potro in four, because clay is the worst surface for the Argentine. This is the case not only because DelPo's clobbering the ball is relatively neutralized on red clay, but also because long points are very bad for his already hurt wrist.

Then, in the quarters, I think Berdych and Federer will battle it out in five sets, with the Czech pulling the major upset and advancing to the semis to play Djokovic.

In that matchup, I would still give the edge to Novak, despite Berdych's good form and newfound blend of pace and consistency. I think Djokovic can push Berdych around, since his movement is not as good as Djoker's.

Prediction: Djokovic over Berdych in 4

Rafael Nadal (No. 2 Seed)

The final showdown. The final that everyone is crossing their fingers for.

The two of them have played twice in the last four clay court tournaments—Monte Carlo and Rome. Both times Nadal emerged victorious in straight sets, and both times Djokovic failed to play his best for some reason.

After having lost six out of six to Novak last year (and the Australian Open final this year), Rafa seems to have Djokovic on clay.

Granted, the likelihood of Djokovic showing up to a major final the same way he did in those two tournaments is highly unlikely. But the main thing is that Rafa has seemingly passed the mental block, which in my opinion, was the main reason for his losses to Novak last year.

In order to win, Djokovic must stay consistent because Nadal was not aggressive at all the last two times they played—it was just Djokovic who missed a lot. (That's why Rafa needs to attack, along with a few other things.)

Despite this, I don't see Novak beating the King of Clay.

Prediction: Nadal in 4

In His Own Game...

Like I said before, consistency is a huge part of why he lost to Nadal in Monte Carlo and Rome, as he made unforced errors left and right.

Known to be the game's best returner, it's surprising that he was one out of seven on break points in Rome, and capitalized on only 43 percent of Nadal's second serves in the same match.

In Monte Carlo, the Djoker won only 40 percent of his first serve points, a completely unacceptable statistic if he is looking to beat Rafa on clay.

It's also possible that the reciprocal of last year is in the offing: Djokovic was in Nadal's head, but maybe this year, Rafa will crawl into Novak's mind following these two losses. If this is so, and it takes shades of the Nadal-Federer situation, Djokovic will have a tough time.

Hopefully for Novak, he won't look a bit sluggish like he did in Rome because that didn't work out too well for him.

And he is showing that he means business, beacuse he wants his first French Open title.