Rafael Nadal: Rafa Will Have No Problem Winning 7th French Open Title

Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay, there's no denying that. The six-time champion at Roland Garros will have no problem breezing through the field at the French Open to secure his record seventh title in Paris.

Rafa doesn't play his opening-round match until Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET against Simone Bolelli. After that, he has an extremely easy route to the final as his draw lets him avoid Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic until the final.

Nadal has compiled a record of 177-6 in his last 183 matches on clay, one of the most impressive feats in all of tennis. He's done that against some of the best players in the sport.

He won't be meeting a top-10 talent until at least the quarterfinals, where he could be looking at a matchup against Janko Tipsarevic, the No. 8 ranked player in the world. Nadal and Tipsarevic have met three times. Tipsarevic has never taken a set from Rafa.

Who is going to beat Nadal this week? Andy Murray? David Ferrer? John Isner? Juan Monaco? That's not going to happen. The Spaniard has the number of virtually every player in the field, and they all know it. 

Nadal is in his prime right now, and looking to surpass Bjorn Borg by winning his seventh title at Roland Garros. He's beaten Djokovic the last two times they have met. He has a 12-match winning streak against Ferrer on clay. Murray hasn't ever been able to beat Nadal on clay.

The only competition for Nadal is going to be Djokovic and Roger Federer, that much is obvious.

Nadal is 2-7 against "Djoker" in their last nine matches, but you can never count Nadal out on clay. He's strung together back-to-back wins over Djokovic at Monte Carlo and Rome on the surface. In the last two matches, Nadal has hardly had a problem beating Djokovic, winning 25 games and only losing 12.

The Nadal-Federer series has seen more consistent parity and has been much less streaky than Nadal's series against Djokovic. Nadal is 11-2 against Federer on clay in his career, with his last loss coming in 2009 at Madrid in the final.

The clay makes it much easier for Nadal to return the more powerful serves of Federer and Djokovic, as the softer surface provides bigger bounces. Nadal enjoys such success on clay because of his great ability to create topspin on the ball. On clay, it is very hard to see the topspin of the ball, which furthers Nadal's advantage.

The few matches he has lost recently can be attributed to his sore knees, but the clay surface is much easier on them. It also helps him slide easier, which lets him keep from stopping on a dime and making cuts.

Either way you look at it, Nadal has a huge advantage over the rest of the field, as he has been the dominant force among his peers on the clay surface.

There's no reason to believe that he won't notch his seventh career French Open title by tournament's end.