French Open 2013: Breaking Down Performance of Tournament's Top Seeds

Where Grand Slam events are concerned, there are really only a handful of names that need to be mentioned.

Anyone has a chance to upset the top competition at Roland Garros this week, but Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic probably don’t have much to worry about. As well as they’re playing, it would be a surprise not to see all three in the final rounds of the Grand Slam event.

With Andy Murray having withdrawn from the French Open due to a back injury, the trio sits atop the seeding with extremely favorable draws. It will take some massive performances to upend any of the three, especially the “King of Clay” in his pursuit of an eighth French Open title.

But Nadal struggled early in his opening-round match with Daniel Brands, while Federer and Djokovic cruised to straight-set victories in their first matches of the tournament. If the world’s best clay-court player is to defend his French Open title for a third consecutive year, he’ll have to build on the confidence of coming back from an early-match scare against Brands.

Let’s take a look at the tournament’s top three players and break down their tournament performances so far, including predictions for how each player will fare at Roland Garros the rest of the tournament.

No. 3 Rafael Nadal

Rafa was never in much danger of actually losing to Brands in the first round, but he certainly could have been in much better shape. Had he not edged out a tough second-set victory 7(7)-6(4), things could have been very different in that match.

But Nadal’s performance in each of the last two sets (6-4, 6-3) was a good sign of what he is capable of on the clay courts of Roland Garros. A shocking first-set defeat didn’t faze the 26-year-old. Instead, he showed the focus and resiliency to power through an opponent that rightfully had no business even making it a contest.

That focus and determination are exactly what will allow Rafa to make another run at the title this season. Brands threw everything he had at the world No. 4 and still came up short, and the same could hold true for any player in the field in his quest to take down Nadal.

Prediction: Nadal will upend Roger Federer in four sets in the finals to win his eighth French Open title.

No. 2 Roger Federer

It was smooth sailing for the world No. 3 in his second-round matchup with Somdev Devvarman, dismantling the world’s best Indian player in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.

It was the kind of match expected of FedEx in the opening rounds of the French Open. With all due respect to Federer, Devvarman didn’t bring the power or quickness necessary to challenge him, but FedEx still brought his best game and built some confidence for the rounds to follow.

Federer played well, and in doing so, he was able to test the waters with nearly every trick in his arsenal. Sometimes being challenged early in a tournament is a good thing, but it can’t hurt that Federer was able to use this match as a tune-up for subsequent rounds.

Prediction: 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 loss to Rafael Nadal in the finals.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic

While Nadal’s jump to No. 4 in the ATP rankings prior to the French Open appeared to be ideal positioning for the 26-year-old, Murray’s withdrawal put Rafa in line to face world No. 1 Djokovic prior to the finals.

That will be either very good or very bad for both parties.

Djokovic would probably prefer not to face the King of Clay short of the finals, but one way or another, the title is going to go through Rafa or Djokovic. They may as well get it over with in the semifinals.

The 26-year-old No. 1 looks prepared for that eventual matchup, though, especially after a convincing straight-sets victory over unseeded David Goffin in the second round, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic committed an unusual amount of unforced errors in the match, but he also wasn’t forced to play at an elite level against the Belgian challenger. With some kinks hopefully worked out in the straight-set win, Djokovic will be poised to make a run at Nadal and the title.

Prediction: Five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.