Winning a grand slam 12 times seems to be a dream for any tennis player. No player has ever won a single tournament 10 times except for Rafael Nadal. However, the Spaniard looks hungry for more as he is going on breaking his own records on the red clay. The 11-time French Open champion has started his campaign for his 12th title.
However, the biggest question is can the defending champion make it to the 12th one?
One month ago, the Spaniard was looking completely out of the track on the European clay for the first time in his career. He suffered a surprise semi-final losses in Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, and Mutua Madrid Open. Nadal was title-less in the 2019 season till the Italian Open for the first time since 2004.
The 17-time grand slam champion pulled his socks and was back on track at the Italian Open. He also defeated the world no. 1, Novak Djokovic in the finals to conquer the title. With this victory, Nadal entered the Roland Garros with winning momentum.
Rafael Nadal has dominated the clay court events since the past 12 years. The Spaniard entered the French Open with only one clay court title and that is certainly a decline in the Rafael Nadal's dominant career on the red-clay events.
Rafael Nadal might not be as dominant at the French Open like previous years but his mastery on the clay court cannot be ignored and he still is the favourite to win the French Open title.
Nadal has built up his confidence after conquering his first title of the 2019 season at the Italian Open. He is the most successful and experienced player on the French Clay with 11 titles and a whopping win-loss record of 82-2.
Though there are many top contenders to win the biggest clay court event with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas. However such is the dominance of Nadal at the French Open that he can win it even at his lowest. Also, the draw has been made for Rafael Nadal such that he will not be facing any problems till the semifinals whatsoever. The world no. 2 could possibly meet Roger Federer on the semifinals.
It could be another easy match for Nadal as Federer returned to the tournament after 4 long years and the Swiss has not been impressive against the 17-time grand slam champion on Clay. It will be interesting to see whether Nadal performs as per the standards expected from him and wins the 18th grand slam of his career with the 12th one in Paris.
