Federer, Nadal or Djokovic: Who's the Best Bet at the 2011 French Open?

Men’s tennis works in eras, unlike women’s tennis which is pretty erratic in terms of consistent performances.

In an era of men’s tennis, there is a champion and there is a challenger.

In the 90s, it was Pistol Pete who was constantly challenged by the man with the lion-mane wig.

Then, in the 2000s, when the Fed Express was running full steam ahead piling up the Grand Slams, out came a teenager from Mallorca who in the middle of trying to de-wedgie himself, also managed to win four back-to-back French Open titles.

Then, at the turn of the decade, the same youngster switched from capris to shorts and was making inroads onto other surfaces when his bid to complete a fantastic “Rafa-Slam” was ruthlessly destroyed by a much amusing Djoker. Not to mention the Djoker then went on to beat Wedgie Boy (err..let’s just call him “El Matador” lest I get into any trouble!) twice on his favourite red dirt.

And as we approach the 2011 French Open, it will be interesting to see whether the matador can tame the Djoker, or if the Fed Express can crash into the party.

Roger Federer:

The Swiss maestro has had a pretty mediocre last year by his standards.

A win at the 2010 Australian Open was followed by a few weeks on the sidelines due to lung infection. Federer never quite recovered after that as he surrendered his French Open and Wimbledon titles to Nadal after failing to make it past the quarterfinal stage and also failed to reach his seventh consecutive US Open final.

But Federer refused to give in to critics who said he was finished and took to the courts with a vengeance and an insatiable desire to end the season on a high.

Federer won the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals after dropping just a set in the entire tournament, beating Nadal to the trophy.

2011 again began brightly for the maestro with a win at the Qatar Open. But Federer failed to defend his Australian Open crown after falling to an in-form Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Another three attempts on the hard court were squashed by Djokovic and Nadal.

A resurgence on clay was in the cards but the cards never found their way to the table as Federer failed to reach a single final after losing to Nadal, Jurgen Melzer and Richard Gasquet at Madrid, Monte Carlo and Rome, respectively.

Federer is clearly third-favourite at the French Open but he has shocked us before and can do it again.

He has been in this situation several times in the recent past and gotten out of it with panache. Federer now finds himself in a situation where he has nothing to lose.

If he loses, not many jaws will drop. But a win would definitely be a statement. A win would propel him back into the mix.

A win would cement his name in the pantheons of the game.

Rafael Nadal:

The red dirt at Roland Garros has got Rafael Nadal’s name almost irreversibly stamped into it. The “King of Clay” has won the tournament five times in the last six years with his only defeat in 39 matches coming against Robin Soderling in 2009.

Nadal avenged that shocking quarterfinal defeat with a vigor unseen before as he romped through Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the 2010 final on his way to knocking Roger Federer off the World No. 1 perch. That came when the Swiss was just one week away from equaling Pete Sampras’ record of 286 weeks at the top.

While the Nadal-Federer rivalry has been the nucleus of tennis ever since they first started trading shots around six years ago, Federer’s recent slump in form has taken some of the gloss away from it.

Add to that Djokovic’s surge since the turn of the year and we can already hear whispers about a new rivalry in the making. Nadal has a 0-4 win-loss record against the Serb this year (16-11 overall) which includes two meetings on clay.

However, Nadal has played Djokovic thrice at Roland Garros and won all three of those meetings.

Nadal hasn’t dropped a set in any of those meetings.

Novak Djokovic:

Juan Martin del Potro tried it, Robin Soderling tried it, Andy Murray tried it. But no one could strike a significant blow to the bipolar hold that Nadal and Federer had in men’s tennis for the last few years.

Enter Novak Djokovic.

The big Serb has always been the quintessential No. 3 in the past who put in the odd fight or two but never could really break into the top-two bracket.

Known for power-packed groundstrokes and an almost seamless efficiency in return of serves, the Serb’s brand of pinball-machine tennis has always been pleasing to the eyes. But he has been plagued with breathing problems that, prior to 2011, limited his Grand Slam tally to the solitary Australian Open triumph in 2008.

But 2011 has been huge breath of fresh air for Nole as he seems to have gotten over his panting, shed a few pounds and looks like a lean, mean fighting machine.

He is now no longer the Djoker who is known for his impersonations of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal.

He is no longer the huffing and puffing Serbian with a buzz cut who retires halfway through a match.

He is Novak Djokovic, World No. 2, with an impeccable 37-0 record this season which has seen him win all the seven tournaments (including the Australian Open) he’s entered in this season. Only the great John McEnroe has enjoyed a better start to a season in the Open Era and Djokovic can go past McEnroe’s 42-0 if he reaches the final at Roland Garros. Rest assured, that’s not going to be enough for him.

He is the guy who has a 7-0 record against Federer and Nadal this season.

He has a shot at becoming World No. 1 at Roland Garros and you can bet your sweet bippy he’s going to go for it come hail or storm.

 Verdict:

As mentioned earlier, Nadal has won five of the last six French Opens while Djokovic has never made it past the semis. But Djokovic has owned Nadal on clay this year with emphatic straight-set victories.

A Djokovic win over Nadal would have around the same impact on men’s tennis as Nadal’s win over Federer at Wimbledon 2008.

The Serb is on an aggressive, merciless streak and is looking unstoppable at the moment. Even after considering Nadal’s record at Roland Garros, Djokovic has the edge over Nadal because the Mallorcan has shown signs of vulnerability this season.

Both players lost no time in talking each other up prior to the tournament and it will be a great final to witness, if they meet, regardless of the result.

But there’s one man who can make sure we don’t get to see that final. There’s one man who will be as eager to get to that final, if not more, and win it to prove his detractors wrong.

Write Roger Federer off at your own peril! And I, for one, am all set for another shock!