Rafael Nadal appears back to top form after missing most of last year with a knee injury and heading into the French Open he is playing his best tennis, as is Serena Williams, who will come into the Grand Slam with a career best winning streak as the two stars are the favorites to take the title at Roland Garros.
The tournament gets started on Sunday and Nadal will be looking for his eighth career French Open title and he is playing very well heading into the tournament, having won a number of titles, including Madrid, Rome and Barcelona, making him the favorite for the slam once again over Novak Djokovic, who will be the second favorite behind Nadal after beating him at Monte Carlo. Roger Federer will also be in the mix and on the women's side the favorite is clearly Serena Williams, who has dominated on the tour all year heading into the second Grand Slam.
Nadal's knee looks back to normal and he is back on his favorite surface with clay and he is coming off of another win over Federer, who he now holds a 20-10 advantage against over his career after defeating him in the Rome Masters finals match. Roland Garros is one of the best tournaments for Nadal and he is ready to take another French Open title, as is Williams, after Maria Sharapova won last year with Rafa.
Titles in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, where he dropped only three sets in the process, mean the 26-year-old is overwhelming favorite to lift the trophy for an eighth time at Roland Garros when play gets underway in Paris on Sunday. World number one Novak Djokovic, who interrupted Nadal's claycourt sweep by beating him in Monte Carlo, looks capable of preventing the Spaniard sinking his teeth into the Coupe des Mousquetaires again, but the Serbian's confidence has taken a knock with early defeats in Madrid and Rome.
Australian Open champion Djokovic has enjoyed a few more rest days than he might have expected in the run-up to the French Open, after chastening defeats by Dimitrov and Czech Tomas Berdych in Madrid and Rome. With world number two Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro both ruled out with injury, Berdych looks the best of the rest, especially if the usual damp conditions afflict the French capital as they did last year when the courts played heavy and slow.
Last year's queen of the clay Maria Sharapova has already lost two 2013 finals to Williams while her hopes of laying down a marker in the last warm-up event in Rome were hit by illness. Williams is world number one, unbeaten in 24 matches and has won four consecutive tournaments, yet she remains diffident after last year's debacle when she exited in the first round. In both Madrid and Rome, however, her imposing athleticism was unencumbered and her movement dynamic.
Movement, and specifically the issue of keeping her lengthy limbs in check, was traditionally Maria Sharopova's problem at Roland Garros until last year.
"When I go on court I am always thinking that what is happening to me in the past eight or nine years is not forever, nobody stays here forever and nobody wins forever," said Nadal, who was struck down by tendinitis in his left knee shortly after his march to the title last year.
"I don't know when this will finish and so I try to take care in every moment to make sure that this happens as late as possible. I respect everyone and this is why I have a lot of success every year and win a lot of matches on this surface.
"Some days I don't play my best and I have to fight and run and be humble."
(Reuters quotes)
